Correa Confirms He will not Attend Summit of the Americas
News from Cuba | Tuesday, 3 April 2012
by Heidy Morin Rueda for Prensa Latina
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said that as long as he is the head of State, Ecuador will not attend any "Summit of the Americas" until the decisions required by the Americas are made.
In a letter, released by official media, to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Correa said that he values and appreciates the gentle and repeated invitation to attend the 6th Summit of the Americas in Cartagena de Indias on April 14 and 15.
He added that unfortunately, although at the 5th Summit of the Americas held in Trinidad and Tobago from April 17 to 19, 2009, Cuba's incomprehensible exclusion from the summits of the Americas was rejected, once again, this twin country has not been invited.
Correa said that it is "unacceptable that these summits avoid such fundamental issues as the inhumane blockade against Cuba, and the aberrant colonization of the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands, which are almost unanimously rejected by the nations of the world."
Regarding the Summit of the Americas, he said that by definition, the summit cannot bear its name when an American country is intentionally and unjustifiably neglected.
People have talked about a "lack of consensus," but we all know that this is the veto by dominant nations, which is an intolerable situation in our 21st-century Americas, he said.
"We don?t mean to cause problems to our beloved Colombia nor to its government. As Bolivar used to say, it is about truly feeling that the homeland is the Americas, and at some point beginning to denounce and face these intolerable and even aberrant situations."
"Our peoples may get tired of their leaders attending so many summits, while there are still so many issues to overcome, such as poverty and inequality, parameters that place Latin America as the world's most unequal region," he said.
Correa criticized the ineffective strategy to combat the world drug problem and highlighted the profound transformation required by the Inter-American Human Rights System, which currently guards interests that are alien to its founding principles.
He highlighted the validity of true freedom of expression that is not reduced to the interests of businesses engaged in social communication, or the complete supremacy of capital over human beings, as evidenced by the mortgage crisis in Spain.
Correa said he hopes that the absence of Ecuador is a cordial invitation to discuss the essential and to act accordingly, confirming his esteem and respect for all his colleagues, heads of State of the continent.
