Among the tasks Joe Biden ordered when he came to the White House vice president of the united states, Kamala Harris, none is more comprehensive than tackling the problem. Central American population migration crisisand especially so-called north triangle this makeup Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. In the 15 months since then, Harris’ efforts have not yielded much fruit, at least obviously, and some mistakes have left more repercussions, for example, message to message. “coming” Harris started on his first visit to the area. This Tuesday, however, the vice president also took on the complex task. Try to channel the Summit of the Americasa date battered and more marked polemic on the participants rather than the content.
Inside angelswhere ninth edition Harris made an announcement of this meeting, which first convened in Miami in 1994. Investment from 10 private sector companies American $1.9 billion in the Northern Triangle. Added to the 1200 million already committed by dozens of other companies at the end of last year, nearly 3.2 billion Total private expenditure in the region on improving working and living conditions to discourage Central Americans from migrating north.
Investments detailed by the White House include, for example, Millicom’s mobile and broadband networks in the Northern Triangle. Visa, for its part, will allocate 270 million over five years. digital payment and two clothing manufacturers, San Mar and Gap Inc, will spend $500 million and $150 million, respectively, over the next three years. increase production In Central America, it potentially creates close to 9,000 jobs.
A presentation by Harris was also on the agenda. empowerment program It will seek to promote the connection of 1.4 million Central American women to financial systems and the digital economy, as well as an education program for half a million adults and youth.
discontinuity
The White House is making an effort to focus on this investment message. In this way, he is trying to leave behind the discussions that have surrounded and darkened a summit that Biden will be from Wednesday but will not attend.many countries will not be represented by heads of state but by delegations.
In most cases, and in some prominent ones, such as that of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, these absences expression of protest Because of Washington’s decision Do not invite Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. That’s something White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre said on Monday following Biden’s stance:does not believe that dictators should be invited”. But the decision is also planned by the government. the weight of national and electoral politics, always with an eye Florida. And the bottom line is that Mexico’s highest political leaders and the entire Northern Triangle are not in Los Angeles, the key countries for immigration.
Some of these shortcomings, such as those of Honduran president Xiomara Castro, are also significant in terms of the difficulties Harris has in dealing with countries, which Washington also points out. corruption, violence or status woman. Harris had recently spoken to Castro personally on the phone, but failed to persuade him to attend the summit.
rain of criticism
Criticism of the appointment and the Biden Administration’s foreign policy towards Latin America has been constant. Last week, Obama’s adviser, Dan Restrepo, wrote in an opinion piece published in the ‘Los Angeles Times’ that “the Summit of the Americas is a deadly flawed forum”. Michael Shifter, former head of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank in Washington, told the newspaper: “The problems at the top are also World War I.The sorry state of American politics and the region”.
Also in the Los Angeles newspaper, Brett Bruen, who works at the Barack Obama White House and frequently criticizes Biden, said that the meeting was “a an unmitigated disaster for US diplomacy in our own hemisphere”. The expert called both the turmoil at the invitations and the lack of announcements about the specific targets to be presented as a “national embarrassment” and said the incident reinforced the impression that the region was not a priority for the White House.
Immigration and China
According to sources from the administration, Biden will propose several initiatives in his presence at the summit, including a number of initiatives. economic framework proposal to deal with issues such as security vulnerabilities or r in supply chainsInter-American Development Bank Reportas well as new Climate and energy alliance with Caribbean countries. It will also offer a immigration proposal, in which Spain can play an important role, but the details were not disclosed.
In any case, without specific trade agreements, some observers and experts Washington increasingly weakened in the region against China. “The United States, under both the Donald Trump and Biden administrations, has presented several alternatives to the infrastructure financing that Beijing has conducted in the region,” Benjamin Gadin, a Latin America analyst at the Wilson Center, told Policy. . And the Council on Foreign Relations recalled that China is currently the main trading partner of South America and the second trading partner for all of Latin America, with which it has intensified cooperation with various countries in the fields of technology, security and culture.