MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Guatemala joins list of countries to skip Summit of the Americas

As long as he was President of Guatemala, his country and its sovereign acts were going to be respected, Giammattei said

Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei Tuesday announced he would join the ranks of leaders of the Americas who have chosen not to attend next month's regional Summit in Los Angeles, California, following the reluctance of US President Joseph Biden to invite Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.

In light of such a decision, Mexico and Bolivia have decided to side with those excluded and chose to bypass the June 6-10 event, a group of countries to which now Guatemala has joined and others might follow suit shortly.

Giammattei's announcement came after the United States Tuesday criticized the appointment of Consuelo Porras as Guatemala's Attorney General for four more years. The official is already included in a State Department list of “corrupt agents.” US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, during Porras' administration there was a “pattern of obstruction” to corruption investigations. “Porras repeatedly obstructed and undermined anti-corruption investigations in Guatemala to ... obtain undue political favors,” Blinken said Monday.

“They are not going to invite me to the summit. In any case, I sent word that I am not going to go,” Giammattei said. He added that for as long as he was President of Guatemala, his country and its sovereign acts were going to be respected.

Biden's administration had announced it would only invite delegations from countries under democratic rule. where democracy is a “condition” to participate in the meeting. The presidents of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), and Bolivia, Luis Arce, have already announced that they make their attendance conditional on there being no exclusions.

“I reaffirm that a Summit of the Americas that excludes American countries will not be a full Summit of the Americas, and if the exclusion of brotherly peoples persists, I will not participate in it,” Arce said.

“If they do not invite everyone, a representation of the Mexican government will go, but I would not go,” AMLO maintained.

While US authorities insist no formal invitations had yet been forwarded, negotiations are still going on between Mexican and US diplomats not to exclude anyone. “I have confidence in President Biden because he is a man who seeks conciliation, dialogue,” AMLO stressed.