Cuban State Council vice President Carlos Lage on November 10 criticized the United States for exercising pressures on other chiefs of state, to impede their presence at the 9th Inter-American Summit in Havana.

In a statement made after the official inauguration of the press center of the summit, scheduled for Nov. 15-16, Lage said that these US actions were confirmed Tuesday by the U.S. State Department.

Lage said that in one declaration released by the US State Department, they explained how the pressure was put upon the Ibero American chiefs of state so that they would not assist the summit, or in the case of attendance, what they should do in Cuba. He said that these actions were carried out in a disrespectful and humiliating manner to address other countries, and added that the actions were being made public.

The US pressures had previously been denounced by Cuban President Fidel Castro and Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque.

At the press center, Lage expressed confidence that the summit will make contribution in a profound and convenient way for the Latin American integration.