U.S. President Donald Trump will attend the upcoming Summit of the Americas, an important gathering of Western Hemisphere leaders, a high-ranking Peruvian government official said on Friday.
The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the April event in Peru’s capital city.
The regional summit is seen as the leading forum for projecting U.S. leadership in Latin America and the Caribbean. U.S. presidents have participated in all seven previous gatherings, but with Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric, proposal to build a wall on the Mexican border and stance on trade stirring anger throughout the region, many wondered if he would attend.
In recent years U.S. leaders have faced sharp rebuke from leftist Latin Americans at the periodic gathering and this year’s event is likely to be no different. But the upcoming summit is also generating controversy because of a leader at the other end of the political spectrum: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Peruvian leaders have repeatedly said Maduro isn’t invited to attend as international criticism grows over Venezuela’s human rights record and the nation’s increasingly autocratic government. But Maduro recently said that he is determined to attend, “rain, shine or lightning.”
“Don’t you want to see me in Lima?” he told journalists recently.
Peruvian Foreign Minister Cayetana Aljovin reiterated Friday that Maduro is not invited to attend, adding that only presidents committed to “governability, democracy and fighting corruption” are welcomed.
Following Trump’s trip to Peru he is expected to travel on to Bogota, a Colombian government official confirmed to The Associated Press Friday. Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin however later stated Colombia was still awaiting the official confirmation of Trump’s visit.
Colombia is the United States’ strongest ally in the region and several prominent U.S. officials have visited in recent months to discuss the country’s battle against coca and the implementation of an historic peace accord with leftist guerrillas.
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Associated Press writer Luis Alonso Lugo in Washington contributed to this report.
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