Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Tried to Blackmail Joe Biden, U.S. Senator Says

Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador allegedly attempted to blackmail President Joe Biden to include non-democratic countries in the Summit of the Americas' guest list, according to a U.S. Senator.

Senator Bob Menendez made the revelation after Lopez Obrador skipped the U.S.-hosted summit and took to his daily press conference to criticize Cuban American senators, including Menendez.

According to The Hill, Lopez Obrador commented on the Cuban American senators' role in excluding the leaders of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua from the event.

Menendez said he thinks Lopez Obrador "basically tried to blackmail" Biden into insisting countries that are not democratic like Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua that are "dictators and despots" to have been invited to the summit."

Menendez noted that Mexico is one of America's most important bilateral relationships. However, he said that Biden made the right choice to exclude the three countries that have either not signed or openly defied the Inter-American Democratic Charter.

Menendez, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he applauds Biden for upholding the standard of the Summit to be a "summit of democracies."

Lopez Obrador has singled out Menendez in his daily press conference Monday and compared his positions on relations with Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to those of Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.

"Those two gentlemen, I understand them better because they're Republicans. But this gentleman, he's in the Democratic Party," said the Mexican president, referring to Menendez.

According to Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump "permitted" all the countries in the hemisphere to join the Summit of the Americas during their terms in office.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Joe Biden on Summit of The Americas

Joe Biden has refused to include the three countries in the Summit of the Americas as they "do not believe that dictators should be invited," said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday.

On the other hand, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador decided to boycott the high-profile gathering, USA Today reported. The Mexican president accused the senators of having resentment and "hatred" towards Cuba.

Rubio criticized Lopez Obrador, calling him "an apologist for tyranny in Cuba, a murderous dictator in Nicaragua, and a narco-trafficker in Venezuela.

Donald Trump earlier increased sanctions against Cuba, covering the cancellation of permits to send remittances and punishment of oil tankers bound for the island. Joe Biden and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador are set to meet in July.

Summit of the Americas

Joe Biden arrived in Los Angeles hoping to announce new economic and migration policies to demonstrate cohesion in the region.

White House officials were reportedly frustrated that the "drama over the participants appeared to be obscuring the important issues at stake."

CNN Politics also reported that first lady Jill Biden complained that the news coverage of her husband had been "so unfair."

In a speech later in the program, Argentine President Alberto Fernandez said the rules of future summits should be changed to prevent nations from being excluded.

Fernandez noted that they definitely "would have wished for a different Summit of the America," adding that the silence of those absent was "calling to us."

After sitting through his counterpart's speeches, Joe Biden said they heard almost total agreement on the substantive things that they should be doing.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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