Cuba rules out attending Summit of the Americas

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel announced on Wednesday he had ruled out attending the Summit of the Americas in the United States.

His decision follows weeks of a controversy among countries in the region after it was reported Washington intended to leave several countries out of the event.

The summit, which the United States is hosting for the first time since the inaugural event in 1994, has risked collapsing over concerns about the guest list.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Brian Nichols has previously said that the governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua have shown that they do not respect democracy and would be unlikely to receive invitations.

American officials said last week that US President Joe Biden was considering inviting a Cuban representative to the summit but it was unclear if Cuba would accept the invitation.

The Summit of the Americas is set to begin on June 6 and involves countries across the Americas, stretching from Canada to Chile.