"Ninth Summit of the Americas" Scheduled For 6 June 2022 To 10 June 2022 In Los Angeles, California. Cuba And Venezuela Should Be Invited- And Both Countries Should Participate.
/The White House
Washington DC
18 January 2022
President Biden Announces Host City for Ninth Summit of the Americas
The vital national interests of the United States are inextricably bound to the fortunes of our closest neighbors in the Americas. To that end, the ability of our democracies to close the gap between what we promise and what we deliver depends in no small part on what we do, together, to make it better.
The United States will host the Ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California in June 2022 with a focus on “Building a Sustainable, Resilient, and Equitable Future” for our hemisphere. [6 June 2022 to 10 June 2022 with the Los Angeles Convention Center the primary venue.]
The Summit of the Americas is the only hemisphere-wide convening of leaders from the countries of North, South, and Central America and the Caribbean. U.S. leadership in the Summit process underscores our deep and historical commitment to the people of the Western Hemisphere as well as our commitment to realizing the Build Back Better World (B3W) initiative. Working with the city of Los Angeles, Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti, and Governor of California Gavin Newsom, the United States looks forward to convening leaders and stakeholders across the hemisphere to advance our shared commitment to economic prosperity, security, human rights, and dignity.
The White House
Washington DC
20 January 2022
Background Press Call By Senior Administration Officials On the Summit of the Americas
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Great. Thank you, [senior administration official]. And Happy New Year, everybody. I am very excited to talk with you today now that we have announced the city and dates for the Summit of the Americas -- the ninth Summit of the Americas -- which will be June 6th through 10th in Los Angeles, California. So with that said, look, the summit, I'll say, will focus on -- our theme for the summit is: “Building a Sustainable, Resilient, and Equitable Future.” As you know, the Summit of the Americas is the only convening that brings together all the leaders of the Western Hemisphere. Also making sure that for a region that is so dependent on fossil fuels, to ensure that we are mobilizing capital to help facilitate what is a global energy transition away from fossil fuels and toward the energies of the future. Making sure that the hemisphere does not get left behind is something that we're very focused on. Of course, issues of climate finance in areas like the Caribbean, Small Island Development States that are impacted by climate change.
And then lastly, you know, obviously the situation in Cuba -- the direction that the President has been to be tough on the regime, but soft on the Cuban people. And that approach has led us to -- after the July 11th protests -- to really raise the profile of those individuals that have been responsible for the for the brutal crackdown. We've imposed individual sanctions on Cuba Security Force officials with the Canadian, UK, and EU support and, at the same time, prioritized the delivery of food, medicine, and humanitarian supplies to the Cuban people. And then expanded our support for tools to avoid censorship so that Cubans can communicate to from and among each other. As they demand greater freedoms.
Question- A couple of questions, if I may. The first one is: Is the White House preparing a special announcement, particularly on immigration, during the summit? Should we expect anything -- any announcement particularly? Maybe you cannot share the announcement today, obviously, but at least the topics that you are interested in? And second question: Cuba participated for the first time in this Summit of the Americas in the summit in Panama. It was not invited in Peru’s. But I was wondering if the United States is likely to invite the Cuban regime to the summit. And also, what's going to happen with Nicaragua and Venezuela?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So, the second question is easier to answer. We have not yet made decisions on what the invitation list will look like. And we want to have that conversation with the countries of the region. I think that -- I think the operating assumption is that we look forward to welcoming the democratically elected leaders of the Organization of American States to the summit. So, you know, but I think we'll make more formal announcements on the invitations as we get closer to the summit date.
Question- Hello. Thank you for doing this. I’d like to know specifically if you expect Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to participate in the summit.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thank you for the question. So, look, on Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela -- so, again, we don't have like a formal position to announce, but I'll just restate what I said to Gustau, which is: We look forward to welcoming the democratically-elected leaders of the Western Hemisphere, given just this affirmation of democratic values and the need to have democracies debate some of these issues. But, again, we, as the host, have a lot of -- I think, decide, ultimately, who will be invited. But we're going to consult with the countries of the Organization of American States as the Secretary for the summit. And we'll announce something I think as we -- as we put together, I think, just the agenda and the invitations, et cetera. We'll have announcements in the future.
