MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday the US economic embargo of Cuba was “genocidal policy,” raising the stakes in a standoff with Washington over its treatment of the Communist-ruled Caribbean island.

Lopez Obrador, a leftist who has repeatedly called for the United States to end the embargo, said earlier in May that he would not attend the US-hosted Summit of the Americas next month unless all countries in the region were invited.

Speaking at a regular government news conference, Lopez Obrador said the United States “looked bad” in how it was treating Cuba, and urged Washington to end the embargo.

“It’s a genocidal policy,” Lopez Obrador said.

Still, he welcomed moves by the US government on Monday that will ease some Trump-era restrictions on the island and increase processing of US visas for Cubans.

Lopez Obrador on Wednesday is due to meet with a US delegation for the Summit of the Americas in which he plans to explain why Mexico wants all countries in the region to attend.