CARACAS, (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will not attend an Ibero-American summit this weekend hosted by the Dominican Republic, a Venezuelan official said yesterday, after receiving a positive COVID-19 test even though he has since tested negative twice.

Foreign Minister Yvan Gil will attend the Saturday and Sunday conference instead, Venezuela’s Information Minister Freddy Nanez told Reuters.

The confirmation Maduro will not attend came a day after a summit official said Maduro was on his way to the event, which provides a forum for leaders from across Latin America as well as Spain and Portugal.

Maduro is shunned by many governments due in part to his 2018 re-election derided as a sham by international observers. His attendance would have marked his first foreign trip this year.