LOS ANGELES — Despite the absence of presidents from some of the region’s key countries, the U.S.-hosted Summit of the Americas, taking place in Los Angeles this week, can serve as a venue of delicate dialogue and incremental problem-solving, America’s top diplomat said Thursday.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken defended the Biden administration’s decision to exclude Cuba, along with Nicaragua and Venezuela, while inviting other governments with similarly questionable democratic credentials such as Brazil.
The snub prompted Mexico and most of Central America to send lower-level delegations to a conference seen as a milestone for the region, a major embarrassment for a country hosting the event for the first time since its 1994 inaugural session in Miami.
