The People's Summit for Democracy Offers a Progressive Vision to Counter U.S. Dominance in the Region

The U.S.

excuses its aggressive policy against Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua by citing these countries' alleged human rights violations and the so-called threats that these countries pose to democracy.by Sheila Xiao and Manolo De Los SantosIn a recent interview, Brian Nichols, the U.

S. assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, was asked the question that is on everyone's mind ahead of the June 2022 Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California: Will three particular countries in Latin America (Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua) be invited? Nichols responded with neither hesitation nor equivocation that the answer was no.

Speaking on behalf of President Joe Biden, he further added that countries whose "actions do not respect democracy"--as the U.S.

government views these three countries and others like them--"will not receive invitations." Nichols' seemingly offhand comment, said with the usual arrogance of U.

S. officials and calling the three countries "regime[s that] do not respect [democracy]," sent a shockwave through the region that the U.

S. was likely not expecting.

Throughout Latin America, the reaction was immediate. Leaders such as Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Bolivian President Luis Arce, and Honduran President Xiomara Castro, as well as several heads of state from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) including Antigua and Barbuda's Prime Minister Gaston Browne and Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Keith Rowley, all expressed that they would not participate in the summit if the exclusions of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua were maintained.

CARICOM has called for a summit that ensures "the participation of all countries of the hemisphere."Biden's...