Summit of the Americas begins today in U.S. with threat of boycott

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The United States hosts the 9th Summit of the Americas starting Monday (6) in Los Angeles, California, which could be embarrassing for President Joe Biden’s administration. The continent’s leaders may not attend the event, which runs through Friday (June 10).

It is the first time the summit has been held in the United States since former President Bill Clinton chaired the inaugural meeting in Miami in 1994. The event brings together North, South, Central, and Caribbean American leaders every three or four years.

Themed “Building a Sustainable, Resilient and Equitable Future,” the 2022 edition aims to promote democracy, address economic issues, promote the use of clean energy, combat global warming and climate change, and talk about digital transformation and combating pandemics.

Another focus of the meeting is the adoption of a migration pact with a “division of tasks” among nations to combat illegal migration, which is one of the main problems for the US government.

Immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Mexico plan to hold protests in the host city during the meeting, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The summit could also be an opportunity to curb China’s influence in the region. In late May, the meeting resulted in a trade agreement with 12 countries on the continent. This is similar to Biden’s stance during his first visit to the Indo-Asian countries.

Each country hosting the summit is free to choose its guest list, and most, if not all, countries routinely attend. However, the White House has not invited Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba because those three countries have authoritarian governments.

However, closer ties among US nations could face obstacles because leaders from countries such as Mexico, one of the United States’ most important trading partners and the second-most populous country in Latin America after Brazil, are not present.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on May 10 that he would not attend unless all countries were invited.

The heads of state of Bolivia, Chile, and Honduras have taken the same stance. However, nations must send a representative. In the case of Mexico, it is expected to send a representative.

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President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) will have his first meeting with Joe Biden during the event. The president will fly to the US on Tuesday or Wednesday. The US government expects that the first conversation between the two leaders will be friendly and will focus on a few topics:

Defense of Democracy;
Racial justice;
respect for human rights;
regional and economic prosperity through trade and investment; and
protection of the environment
Reducing the effects of climate change
Overcoming pandemics
Cooperation in the areas of security and defense;
Promoting peace and the rule of law.

The president says he should not present proof of vaccination, as he did at the G-20 summit. The US Chargé d’Affaires in Brazil, Douglas Koneff, told Poder360 that this should not be a problem: “We have many exemptions to ensure participation in major events. We don’t expect any problems.”

Bolsonaro and Biden are still expected to discuss Brazil’s 2022 elections. The US president is expected to tell Bolsonaro that the US trusts Brazilian institutions and that the decision will be up to Brazilians.

“It’s only natural that they talk about it because we have a long-term strategic relationship. It is a relationship based on institutions and is more important than any individual,” Koneff said.

Until May 25, there were still doubts about whether President Jair Bolsonaro would attend the meeting. The uncertainty about his participation was due to two factors: his re-election campaign and the focus of the negotiations on the issues of the summit.

However, after the visit of White House Special Advisor for the Summit, Christopher Dodd, to the Palácio do Planalto on May 24, Bolsonaro confirmed his participation. It is also certain that Argentine President Alberto Fernández and Prime Minister.