Prime Minister Justin Trudeau does not say whether he supports President Joe Biden’s decision to exclude Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba from this week’s Summit of the Americas.
Trudeau acknowledges that some countries in the Western Hemisphere are “less related” than others.
But he says they all share a number of pressing issues, such as migratory pressures, climate change and the full recovery of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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All three are expected to be on the agenda for the week-long summit, when the prime minister leaves for Los Angeles on Tuesday.
On the way, he and Defense Minister Anita Anand stop in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to meet with commanders and officers of NORAD, the joint defense continental command system planned to be upgraded.
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Trudeau is also accompanied by Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault and Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, who is scheduled to meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Mexican counterpart Marcelo Ebrard.
“It is extremely important that we have the opportunity to relate to our hemispheric colleagues, some with similar ideas, others less related,” Trudeau told a news conference Monday in Ottawa with Chilean counterpart Gabriel Boric. .
“Talking about the important issues that our people have in common, whether it’s migratory pressures, whether it’s climate change, whether it’s going through this pandemic, this is an important time for us to come together.”
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Canada continues to defend the importance of human rights and democratic values in the three excluded countries, “although we recognize that Canada has a long-standing approach to Cuba that is different from the United States.”
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Boric was much more forceful in condemning the “mistake” of the White House.
“We have to express in the United States and elsewhere that exclusion is not the right way,” Boric said.
“When the United States claims to exclude certain countries from the summit, they are actually strengthening the position that these other countries are taking in their own countries.”
Biden’s decision to exclude the three countries prompted Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to confirm Monday that he would stay away.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday rejected the idea that Lopez Obrador’s decision to move away from the summit is a sign of declining U.S. influence in the hemisphere.
“The United States remains the most powerful force in promoting hemispheric action to address the basic challenges facing the people of the Americas: inequality, health, climate, and food security,” said Jean-Pierre.
“The president must follow his principles. He believes he must follow his principles and not invite dictators, but we can still have a full conversation: there is a full agenda where he will be very busy.”
Other priorities for the summit will include helping countries control COVID-19, forging new ties in climate and energy initiatives, tackling food insecurity and leveraging existing trade agreements to better ensure that more people can reap the benefits.
© 2022 The Canadian Press