The Summit of the Americas cannot be reduced to a “US summit” by only applying US standards to serve Washington’s self-interests, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, amid reports of the US deciding not to invite the leaders of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to attend the summit to be held in Los Angeles in June.

Zhao Lijian, the spokesperson, made the remarks during a press conference on Tuesday when asked to comment on Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s remarks during his visit to Cuba that the US leader should host the summit without excluding any one country.

Zhao said that he had noticed relevant reports and President Lopez has a point. “I would also like to ask a question. Are Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela not countries in the Americas?” he asked.

“It will be 200 years next year since the US proposed the Monroe Doctrine," Zhao noted, adding that for two centuries, the US have acted according to the principle of “the Americas is home only to the US” under the doctrine.

The spokesperson further noted that the US treats Latin America as its backyard, not helping, but bullying countries at will. Not only has its own development and prosperity not benefited Latin America, it has exploited the continent, imposed sanctions indiscriminately, and exported inflation, in addition to engaging in political interference and subversion, as well as assassination of officials and even armed aggression.

According to Zhao, the US still insists on maintaining unilateral and illegal sanctions against some Latin American countries despite the opposition of the international community and regional countries. 

Moreover, the US also lacks the basic respect it should have for Latin American countries, the official said, adding that the US should respect the sovereignty and dignity of Latin America and abide by the basic norms of international relations.

“The Monroe Doctrine has no market in Latin America today, and the US should not expect to replicate it in other parts of the world,” Zhao stressed.

Global Times