The Summit of the Americas aEUR”, an event that brought together leaders from Chile to Canada, this week aEUR”, was meant to give the White House a chance to show its leadership on major issues like migration and climate change.
The agenda is now overshadowed somewhat by the question of who won’t attend the table. Many leaders, including the Mexican President AndrA(c),s Manuel LA3pez Obrador, declined to meet with President Biden at Los Angeles.
These absences draw attention to the declining influence of the United States and raise questions about the U.S. commitment towards Latin America.
Biden was vice president and visited the region 16 times. This gave him a lot of hope when he assumed office. After more than a year as president, Biden has been more focused on pressing issues in Russia or China.
According to Eric Farnsworth (an ex-State Department official, now at the Council of the Americas), the summit is happening as China makes greater inroads into the region’s economy.
Latin America is crying out for economic relief after the pandemic, but the United States has not been able to provide it. China, on the other hand, sits in wait “aEUR” with its checkbook open.
Farnsworth stated, “I have been repeating this since at most last summer.” If you don’t change your course and acknowledge that the hemisphere has changed, you are headed for a train crash. Our policy in the region remains the same.
The Summit of the Americas appears to be a failure, and a diplomatic goal. The US does not have a trade proposal, an immigration policy or an infrastructure package. Instead, the emphasis is on who will and will not be there. Uncertainty is why we tried to get it done. https://t.co/d431ffbcnw
LA3pez Obrador threatened to cancel the summit if the United States didn’t invite leaders from Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. The official guest list was released this week. aEUR” And the authoritarian leaders were not included aEUR”, LA3pez Obrador fulfilled that threat.
LA3pez Obrador stated Monday that there can’t be a Summit of the Americas without all the American countries participating. “Or there could be, but that would mean continuing old politics of interventionism and a lack respect for their communities.
Brian Nichols, Assistant Secretary of State, stated that the administration had considered inviting the leaders but decided against it.
Nichols stated, “Taking into account the current Cuban situation, including the trials of civil society leaders, and similar situations in Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, we believed that it was the best decision to keep our commitment to democracy, human rights, and our hemisphere,”
Biden and other leaders are expected to sign a declaration regarding migration on Friday. Biden’s administration will announce new investments from the private sector in Central America to improve the economy and reduce migration. The summit will not be attended by the leaders of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, which account for a large portion of the migration.
The countries have sent delegations of officials and the Biden administration said it would work with them in order to make business happen.
The agenda also includes improving medical supply chains, addressing food and hunger shortages, as well as a climate- and energy partnership with Caribbean.
“People will see that we took a lot of concrete steps that will improve their lives,” Nichols, the U.S. State Department’s Western Hemisphere policy director, said.
The White House announced Wednesday that Biden would announce a plan with regional partners to recover from COVID-19 “aEUR” and prepare the region for future pandemics. The plan, which was developed in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organizations (PAHO), includes training for 500,000 medical and public health workers in the region over five years. This is a program they call the Americas Health Corps.
Biden will also meet with Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian President. This will be his first meeting with the controversial leader, who was an ally of President Donald Trump.
Bolsonaro has made false claims about Brazil’s electoral system in recent months, much like Trump’s false claims about Biden’s victory.
Jorge Guajardo is a former Mexican ambassador in China. He says that the U.S.’s problems with democracy were highlighted by the insurrection at its Capitol on January 6, 2021. These problems are not going unnoticed throughout the hemisphere.
Guajardo stated that Latin American leaders are like other people around the globe and don’t know if or how long the United States can maintain its democratic principles from the past.
It gives countries the opportunity to ask, “Why should we follow your example?” Guajardo stated that if we don’t know if our successor will leave us hanging in the future, it is a problem.
