Last Monday, during a press conference in Havana, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez denounced the United States for excluding Cuba from the preparations for the XI Summit of the Americas. The summit, which will convene in Los Angeles this June, is returning to the United States for the first time since Miami hosted the Inaugural Summit of the Americas in 1994. Cuba has participated in the last two summits—Lima 2015 and Panama 2018.
Rodríguez went on to publicly ask U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to clarify if the U.S. will invite Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel. A spokesperson from the White House National Security Council and the Department of State responded by saying that the U.S. has not yet extended invitations to any government. Earlier this year, a senior Biden administration official responded to the same question by saying that although the administration had not finalized an official invitation list, it was looking forward to welcoming the democratically elected leaders of the Organization of American States (OAS).
The most recent back and forth between Cuba and the United States comes after delegations from the two nations met last week to discuss bilateral issues for the first time in nearly four years. The talks were held in Washington D.C. and focused on the U.S.-Cuba Migration Accords. Title 42 will expire on May 23, and U.S. officials are worried about a possible rise in migration on the southern border. Last month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection processed 221,303 migrants at the border—the highest number of migrants detained in 22 years. Of those detained, 33,141 were Cuban—representing a record for Cubans arriving by land. Last year, Nicaragua eliminated the Visa requirements for Cubans, which experts speculate accounts for the unprecedented rise in over-land crossings. As it stands, the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act allows any Cuban who legally crosses the border to apply for a green card after one year of U.S. residency.
