For Claudia de la Cruz, co-director of the People’s Forum platform, there was little representation of the poorer, immigrant, indigenous and black communities of Los Angeles and the country at the event.
“It says a lot about the important voices in these kinds of events,” de la Cruz told Prensa Latina.
He emphasized that it was undoubtedly “an empty space that is not even symbolic of anything, because conflicting societies did not exist, and they live in cities like this where these kinds of meetings take place”.
At least, he said, within civil society in Los Angeles, many organizations were registered and then were unable to make it to the top, precisely because they had a voice of protest.
He said there is discomfort with what “Joe Biden’s government is at this time, particularly with regard to the economic crisis and access to health and housing.”
On the other hand, in this city that they want to promote as an example, there are 38 percent of the population without a home.
The activist added that those living on the streets, the homeless, are being turned away from their usual places to give Los Angeles a better face in the context of the summit.
De la Cruz made his remarks a few hours after the opening of the People’s Summit for Democracy, emphasizing the “counter-proposal of the Biden exclusion meeting.”
The ninth summit, which began the day before, was preceded by numerous criticisms due to the exclusion of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, which do not fall under the auspices of Washington’s political sympathies, in the opinion of analysts.
This position contrasts with the projection attempted by the host country at this event, which spends, every three years, bringing together heads of state and/or government of the Americas.
The White House expected this to be a “more inclusive summit”. However, his official guest list does not include those governments who are not comfortable with him.
The President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, refused to appear before the office of the United States, as did his Bolivian counterpart Luis Ars.
Honduras, Guatemala and the countries that make up the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have expressed their disapproval of this policy of exclusion, which for many observers means a setback in relations between the hemisphere.
Others see it as a setback in the agenda toward the region of the current Oval Office occupant and even a political target for Washington.
car / dfm
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