As reported by Reuters, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will launch a summit on Wednesday that was intended to showcase U.S. leadership in reviving Latin American economies and addressing migratory pressures but has been boycotted by the state leaders of some countries in the Americas who are upset with Washington's decision to exclude Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.

During this week's Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, Mexico will advocate for an end to the "inhumane" decades-long U.S. trade ban against Cuba, Mexican Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard said.

At a news conference, before he departed for the summit from June 6-10, Ebrard stated that lifting the web of sanctions, which Cuba described as a financial, economic, and trade embargo, would be the session's primary focus.

Ebrard stated, "We will insist that the blockade is inhumane ... ineffective and has been condemned by all the countries that are going to be at the summit,"

"No nation has the authority to dictate how another nation governs itself. Mutual respect is the foundation for a new era in the Americas. It is what we champion and will continue to champion "he added.

As a result of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's announced boycott of the regional gathering over the disputed guest list, the U.S.-hosted summit got off to a rocky start on Monday.

Lopez Obrador stated during a news conference on Monday, confirming his absence from the summit due to Washington's exclusion of these nations, "It's time to change the dominant political practice,"

"So is it going to be the Summit of the Americas, or is it going to be the Summit of the 'Friends of America'?" he said.

Washington's months-long efforts to encourage Lopez Obrador to attend the conference were proven worthless by his dismissal of it. In addition to Mexico, the restricted guest list has encouraged Guatemala, Honduras, Argentina, Bolivia, El Salvador, and certain Caribbean nations to request either a boycott or the sending of lower-level representatives.

This embarrasses the White House, which rebuffed concerns from the press last week regarding why it had not published a list of summit guests with only hours remaining before the summit. Experts anticipated that Mexico's unilateral action would dissuade Washington from achieving its claimed goals, such as immigration reform, which would require Mexico's participation.

In reaction to Washington's divisive actions, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro declared his government's "firm, strong and total rejection of the imperialist vision that intends to exclude the peoples of the Americas" from a regional conference.

In a statement released on Monday, the Cuban government stated no single justification for the United States' "undemocratic and arbitrary exclusion" of any country from the ninth Summit of the Americas.

It was stated that Washington, abusing its power as the host nation, made a very early decision to ban Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua from the summit and utilized pressure, threats, and blackmail against regional countries.

"Cuba appreciates and respects the worthy, courageous and legitimate position of numerous governments in defense of the participation of all, under equal conditions," the statement read.

"Our region demands cooperation, not exclusion; solidarity, not meanness; respect, not arrogance; sovereignty and self-determination, not subordination," the statement continued.

Having tested positive for COVID-19, Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou formally canceled his trip to the Summit on Monday, having tested positive for the virus.