Maduro slams US for excluding countries from Americas Summit

Caracas, May 28 Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro condemned the US for excluding his nation Cuba and Nicaragua from the upcoming Summit of the Americas to be held June 6-10 in Los Angeles.

Maduro expressed his government's "firm, strong and total rejection of the imperialist vision that intends to exclude the peoples of the Americas" from a regional gathering, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Venezuelan President is currently in Havana for the 21st Summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People's Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP), which took place Friday.

In contrast to Washington's handling of the Americas Summit, the ALBA-TCP is inclusive and uniting, and works on issues that impact people's lives and development in the region, he said.

"If there is anything truly democratic on this continent, it is ALBA, from the point of view of its debates and the sharing of diversity," Maduro stressed.

On Thursday, US coordinator of the Americas Summit Kevin O'Reilly reiterated that the governments of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, all members of ALBA-TCP, had not been invited to participate in the meeting.

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