What is the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity announced by the United States?

The governments of the United States and 11 Latin American and Caribbean countries signed the joint declaration inaugurating the regional alliance to “promote economic development through cooperation among member countries”.

However, the exclusions are striking.

A few days after the conclusion of the VII Summit of CELAC heads of state in Buenos Aires, which set standards for regional integration, with announcements such as the creation of a common currency for major South American powers such as Brazil and Argentina, the United States together with 11 other countries in the region announced an agreement called the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP).

Born under the auspices of the Summit of the Americas held in Los Angeles, California, in June 2022 and presented in a joint declaration on January 27, APEP seeks to promote “the well-being and sustainable economic security of our peoples”.

Barbados, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, United States, and Uruguay are the countries that make up the hemispheric alliance, which seeks to “respond to the needs of our peoples through good governance that leads to robust economic opportunities and sustainable and inclusive economic growth”.

The US-sponsored agreement, in the image and likeness of previous US hemispheric projects such as George W. Bush’s FTAA and Barack Obama’s Equal Partnership, recognizes “fairness and competitiveness in open markets” as “essential to the vitality of our democratic institutions and (…) the fight against corruption”.

ARBITRARY EXCLUSIONS?

The alliance excludes the region’s politically and economically important countries, such as Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay in the Southern Cone, and the so-called Northern Triangle of Central America, composed of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.

“We don’t know if this is a response from them because of CELAC, we don’t know, but nothing is happening, absolutely nothing is happening,” said the Honduran Vice Foreign Minister, Tony Garcia, to Hondudiario, about the exclusion of his country from the alliance.

“It’s just another forum,” he added.

“I understand that Venezuela, Nicaragua, or Bolivia are not included because of their different opposing positions, but it is very striking that Paraguay is not included. What is the reason? They have always had a close relationship, and today on several occasions, I heard the ambassador speak of an alliance with Paraguay. It is striking”, said former Paraguayan Foreign Minister Eladio Loizaga to La Nación.

When asked about the absence of 23 of the 35 Americas and the Caribbean countries in APEP, José W. Fernández, US Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment said, “the doors are open”.

“The first thing is to develop a framework that reflects a level of ambition among the partner countries, and then more countries can join (…) that share our vision of a more prosperous and more democratic hemisphere,” Fernández explained.

“There will be countries that do not comply with this, but most of our neighbors in Latin America are more than welcome to join,” he emphasized.

With information from Sputnik