White House to exclude Cuba from global meeting

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration plans to exclude Cuba from the upcoming Summit of the Americas, a major global meeting to be held in Los Angeles in June that typically welcomes all governments in the Western Hemisphere, a senior U.S. official told the Los Angeles Times.

The summit, which is held every three or four years, is being convened in the United States for the first time since its 1994 inaugural session in Miami. Los Angeles was chosen as the venue earlier this year.

The administration’s refusal to invite Cuba is likely to anger several other Latin American countries as President Biden and the State Department attempt to repair damaged relations in the region.

“We expect the democratic nations of our hemisphere to gather for a conversation,” said Brian Nichols, assistant secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere.

Cuba, he said, is decidedly not part of that group, especially after demonstrations last July in which Cubans demanded political and economic freedoms. Many people were arrested and at least one died. In addition, Washington has opposed its lack of free speech and its human rights record.

Numerous advocates who support improved relations with Cuba had hoped the Biden administration would reopen diplomatic, political and trade ties with the island that were frozen by former President Trump. Trump reversed an initial and historic opening initiated by then-President Obama, who sought to end a half-century of Cold War hostilities.

However, President Biden has done little to roll back Trump’s rebukes of Cuba, which included adding the country to a U.S. government list of state sponsors of terrorism. And the administration is only slowly reestablishing U.S. consular services in Havana that would help Cubans obtain visas for legal travel.

In addition, a U.S. policy on remittances, money that people, including Cuban Americans, can send to island residents, remains “under review,” strangling a lifeline for many. Flights by American carriers, trips by U.S. tourists and cultural exchanges also remain problematic without clearer guidelines.