The Summit of the Americas, which was scheduled to take place in December, has been postponed due to regional tensions, according to the host country, the Dominican Republic, amid the U.S. military deployment in the Caribbean.
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AFP reports: The gathering, originally scheduled for December, has been delayed until next year after consultations with invited countries, including the United States, according to a statement from the Dominican foreign ministry.
Many countries in the Americas are furious over the U.S. deployment off Venezuela’s coast. The deployment has included attacks on boats that Washington claims are involved in drug smuggling, amid fears of direct U.S. intervention against leftist President Nicolás Maduro.
The Dominican statement said, "Deep differences make it hard to hold a productive Summit of the Americas now."
The statement also cited the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa to countries that were going to attend the summit, such as Jamaica.
The United States claims that the deployment off Venezuela is an anti-narcotics operation.
US forces have attacked boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific, killing at least 65 people.
Experts say that these attacks, which began in early September, amount to extrajudicial killings, even if the targets are known traffickers.
Washington has yet to release any evidence proving that its targets were smuggling narcotics or posing a threat to the United States.