Missile strikes leading topic at Summit of the Americas

U.S. allies voice support, but some opposed the attack.

LIMA, PERU — Vice President Mike Pence, meeting with a group of Western Hemisphere leaders Saturday, said the Trump administration’s missile strikes against Syria had “degraded and crippled” the Assad regime’s ability to produce chemical weapons and showed the world that the U.S. “will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons against men, women and children.”

Pence, who is representing the United States at the Summit of the Americas, in place of President Donald Trump, said he hoped that the military action, which also involved France and Great Britain, would convince Syria “and their patrons in Russia and Iran” to abandon “the use of chemical weapons against innocent civilians.”

Several U.S. allies at the summit voiced support for the missile strikes and condemned the use of chemical weapons, but there were also calls against further escalation in the situation and outright opposition to the attack.

Leaders of Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and other countries reiterated their opposition to the use of chemical weapons by the Bashar al-Assad regime.

“Canada stands with our friends in this necessary response, and we condemn in the strongest possible terms the use of chemical weapons in last week’s attack,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the gathering of regional leaders. “We will continue to work with our international partners to further investigate the use of chemical weapons in Syria and those responsible must be brought to justice.”

Chile’s president, Sebastian Piñera, criticized the “inability of the international community” to find ways to “stop the use of chemical weapons against human beings,” while Argentine President Mauricio Macri told the gathering that the international community should keep pursuing dialogue in an attempt to avoid “an escalation of tension.”

Cuba’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez, was a prominent exception. He said Cuba’s government “energetically rejects the attack perpetrated by the United States,” which he described as “unilateral, illegal and without evidence,” and added that it “constitutes a flagrant violation of the principles of international law.”

Rodriguez, who said Cuba also rejects the use of chemical weapons, used his speech to deliver a sustained criticism against the Trump administration. “They promote walls, militarization of borders, massive deportations, including children who were born in their own territory,” Rodriguez said.

Cuba’s president, Raúl Castro, who is expected to step down later this month, did not attend the summit.

Relations between the U.S. and Cuba have regressed after a thaw during the Obama administration. Part of the tension has come after reports of mysterious health problems among a group of U.S. diplomats in Cuba that some believe were the result of intentional attacks.

Bolivian President Evo Morales, a longtime critic of the United States, joined Cuba in its criticism of U.S. policy in the region, including the pressure on Venezuela, an ally.

“It has to be said with complete clarity, the principal threat against democracy, against peace, against freedom, against Mother Earth, and against multilateralism, is the government of the United States,” Morales said.

Vice President Mike Pence said the U.S. “will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons.”