As US President Joe Biden greets greater than 20 Western Hemisphere leaders in Los Angeles, a type of excluded from the California gathering is holding his personal high-level talks on the opposite facet of the globe: Venezuelan chief Nicolas Maduro has rapidly flown to Ankara to satisfy along with his Turkey counterpart.
Leaders of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela had been excluded from the assembly due to their autocratic governments and poor human rights data — prompting leaders of a number of different nations to boycott the Summit in solidarity. In probably the most notable defection, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador despatched lower-ranking officers in his stead.
Cuba, which had been invited to earlier summits in 2018 and 2015 and anticipated to be invited this 12 months too, known as its exclusion “undemocratic.”
Maduro additionally criticized the choice however went a step additional by calling on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — a go to that appears to have been organized on the final minute. Beneath Venezuelan regulation, the top of state should obtain an authorization from congress to journey overseas on official visits. The Maduro-controlled Nationwide Meeting confirmed the authorization on Tuesday night — an hour after the presidential airplane had already landed in Ankara.
Maduro’s go to additionally permits Erdogan to ship a message that his nation is unbiased and will get to make the international coverage choices it needs.
Whereas there’s been no official assertion on whether or not the 2 sides met in Ankara, you’ll be able to guess the coincidence wasn’t misplaced on Washington.
