EEUU approaches Cuba and Venezuela

What is the real reason for the new relations between the United States, Cuba and Venezuela?

R. Gelfenstein, U.S. President Joe Biden has decided to reduce sanctions against Cuba and Venezuela at a time when part of the region is criticizing his government for not inviting these two countries to the next Summit of the Americas.

Less than a month before the meeting that will bring together the heads of state and government of the region in Los Angeles, from June 6 to 10, Biden is trying to avoid a possible boycott orchestrated by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López. worker. , and to which other leaders would join.

The Biden administration announced on Monday the resumption of commercial flights to Cuba beyond Havana, the elimination of the limit on remittances and the resumption of a family reunification program, being the first steps towards the opening of the island that it promised in the electoral campaign.

🇺🇸🇲🇽 Lopez Obrador warns he will not attend the Summit of the Americas if the U.S. excludes Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. The announcement comes after passing through Havana. "If it is excluded, a representation of Mexico will go, but I would not go. No one has the right to exclude." pic.twitter.com/5LupG7xeyU

- Deciphering the War (@descifraguerra) May 10, 2022

Just a day later, on Tuesday, he announced that he would lift some economic sanctions against Venezuela, including banning U.S. oil company Chevron from doing business with state-owned PDVSA, in exchange for reviving dialogue between Nicolas' government. Maduro and the opposition, which took place in Mexico City.

The United States had been working on these announcements for months and decided to make them public at a time when the Summit of the Americas, in which Biden wants to promote a regional migration pact, was in crisis due to the White House's decision not to invite Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

The presidents of Argentina, Alberto Fernández; from Chile, Gabriel Boric; and from Honduras, Xiomara Castro, did not exclude his participation, but asked that no one be excluded from the conclave.

But for other reasons, Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei said he would not go after the State Department criticized the re-election of the country's attorney general; and Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro is still considering his attendance.

Some senators have already raised their voices against Biden's move to Havana and Caracas, including Democrat Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and influential in Latin American politics.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Menendez urged that the easing of sanctions not be the prelude to inviting Cuba and Venezuela to the June meeting, because then "it would no longer be a summit of democracies."