Dominican Republic, as host country, announced the suspension and postponement until 2026 of the Summit of the Americas, citing the growing climate of U.S. military tension in the Caribbean. President Luis Abinader’s government announced, after a “careful analysis of the situation in the region,” the postponement until next year of the 10th Summit of the Americas, which had been scheduled to take place from Dec. 1 to 6 in Punta Cana.
According to the official statement, the decision was made after consulting with key partners, including the United States government, leading some countries to denounce alleged pressure from the Trump administration in favor of this suspension.
The stated reasons referred both to the “lack of suitable conditions” and to the acknowledgment of deep political divisions across the continent. However, the backdrop to the decision is more troubling: The increased U.S. military deployment in the Caribbean Sea, in an area marked by rising tensions, and the deliberate exclusion of countries such as Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua from the hemispheric forum.
From Colombia, President Gustavo Petro harshly criticized the decision, denouncing it as “a failure of the dialogue that was supposed to unite all the American republics.”
US military tensions in the Caribbean force postponement of the Summit of the Americas
The Dominican Republic announcement came at a moment of high geopolitical friction. Since last August, Washington has deployed numerous warships, fighter jets, a submarine, and thousands of marines in the Caribbean under the banner of the fight against drug trafficking, with particular visibility off the Venezuelan coast.
In an unprecedented military operation never before seen in the region, actions against alleged drug-smuggling boats in both the Caribbean and Pacific waters have caused dozens of deaths — at least 63, according to independent sources — as vessels labeled “narcoterrorist” by the U.S. have sunk.
This deployment has raised alarm among several Latin American governments. The Dominican Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged in its statement that “the deep divergences” that exist today “make a productive dialogue in the hemisphere difficult.”
Furthermore, the government of Luis Abinader confirmed that Washington had been consulted about this suspension, a fact that, according to some analysts, confirms that the White House was behind the decision, viewing it as a tactical move by Washington and Santo Domingo to prevent the summit from becoming another scene of confrontation — especially at a time when the region seems to be dividing into blocs.
In this context, the Dominican decision can be read as yet another indication that traditional hemispheric diplomacy — once represented by the Summit forum — is weakened in the face of growing bipolarity between those aligned with the U.S. and those advocating for an autonomous Latin American agenda.
COMUNICADO: MIREX anuncia posposición de la Cumbre de las Américas.
📲🌐https://t.co/MOaTsfHX5a pic.twitter.com/YPsXaPFVxW— Cancillería de República Dominicana (@MIREXRD) November 3, 2025
Criticism from Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro and the void in dialogue
From Bogota, President Gustavo Petro was quick to raise his voice. For him, the postponement confirms “the failure” of a summit that, in his view, was meant to bring together all the republics of the continent and facilitate a sincere, pragmatic, and constructive exchange.
Petro had previously announced that he would not participate in the forum, in protest against the exclusion of Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua. In his view, the exclusion of key players cannot be the starting point of a dialogue that claims to represent the entire hemisphere.
His criticism also points to a broader challenge: “Latin America must integrate internally through concrete projects and without subordination,” he recently said, proposing that the region advance in clean energy production, pharmaceuticals, and stronger Amazonian cooperation. From this perspective, the canceled summit symbolizes not only a logistical postponement but also the lack of will to build a hemispheric agenda different from the one that, according to Petro, follows Washington’s logic.
The absence of the forum, Petro argues, leaves a political vacuum. “A summit that included all the American republics and Canada, and that should have been the setting for a sincere, pragmatic, and constructive dialogue, has failed — what a shame!” the Colombian president wrote yesterday in a post on his X social media account.
Ha fracasado una cumbre que incluyendo a todas las repúblicas americanas y Canadá, debió ser el escenario de un diálogo sincero, pragmático y constructivo, ¡qué lastima! https://t.co/tZuPczQzng
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) November 4, 2025
The region’s eyes set on 2026
The postponement of the summit has multiple impacts. First, it delays the moment when the leaders of the Americas would sit down to discuss shared challenges such as climate change, democracy, energy, and development. But perhaps more importantly, it reveals that hemispheric balances are shifting. The delay shows that issues of security, power, and exclusion weigh just as heavily as the usual topics of cooperation.
The fact that the original version of the meeting has been suspended also raises questions about the role of traditional organizations. The Organization of American States (OAS) and the hemisphere’s own diplomatic architecture seem to be faltering in the face of bilateral dynamics and polarization. Analysts point out that the classic multilateral forum is giving way to a “more pronounced bilateralism.”
Looking ahead to 2026, the Dominican Republic and the United States will have to decide when and under what conditions the summit will be rescheduled. Washington has already expressed its support for the new timeline and announced that it will continue working with Santo Domingo to ensure the event is “productive.”
Nevertheless, the decision to postpone the Summit of the Americas is far more than a logistical delay: It is a symptom that the Western Hemisphere is going through turbulent and deeply polarized times. This reality — denounced countless times as the main reason behind the failure to achieve a union capable of turning the region into a stable political and economic bloc — shows that dialogue seems to have no place, while the use of military threats looms heavily over some countries.
With this scenario that makes dialogue impossible, any summit aimed at bringing positions closer on key issues of the global agenda seems like a smokescreen that nevertheless fails to hide the reality of a continent that has never truly walked in unity.