Venezuelan President Will Not Attend Summit of The Americas

News Americas, CARACAS, Venezuela, Fri. April 13, 2018: Don’t look for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at the Summit of the Americas, which gets underway in Peru’s capital Lima today, April 13th.

In a public announcement this week, Maduro said the summit is not among his priorities and vowed he would instead stay at home with the Venezuelan people to commemorate the failed coup attempt against the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in 2002.

Maduro denounced Peru for removing all security guarantees for the Venezuelan delegation at the summit, with his spot at the event set to be taken by Venezuela’s deputy foreign minister.

Peruvian officials had long stated that Maduro was not welcome at the Summit of the Americas, but up until this week’s announcement, the Venezuelan President had publicly maintained that he was planning on coming to the regional gathering anyways.

The announcement comes just a day after U.S. President Donald Trump also canceled his attendance, opting to stay in Washington to deal with Syria policy following a suspected chemical attack in the country.

Maduro also took a swipe at Trump’s decision not to attend the summit, saying that the U.S. president’s absence demonstrated his “disdain” for the region.

The two-day Summit of the Americas is a gathering of heads of state that takes place every three years and is organized by the Organization of American States (OAS). (SOURCE: CCTV)