Challenge for Biden to rally Americas around a shared vision

LOS ANGELES (AP):

President Joe Biden tried to present a unifying vision for the Western Hemisphere on Thursday, even as the Summit of the Americas has been wracked by divisions and absences that make it hard to bring North and South America together around shared goals on migration, the economy and climate.

The disparities in wealth, governance and national interests mean it is challenging for Biden to duplicate the partnerships he has assembled in Asia and Europe. That has created limited expectations at a summit that the United States is hosting for the first time since 1994.

With diplomatic efforts strained by summit boycotts and legislative proposals stranded in a polarised Congress, Biden focused on trying to get corporations and the private sector behind his efforts. His administration hopes the financial ties will help to bridge regional differences, while fostering economic growth and greater equality.

“My challenge to all of you is, if you step up and play a bigger role in driving inclusive, sustainable, equitable growth in the 21st century, a lot’s going to happen,” Biden said in an address to CEOs. “None of us will be able to fully realise our ambition for the region on our own.”

Before Biden took the stage, the backdrop was an animation that showed fragments of colours flying together to neatly form a map of North and South America. Yet, in reality, the process has hardly been as synchronised, particularly with the notable summit boycott by Mexico’s president and uncertainty as to whether the right incentives exist for Latin America to draw more closely to the US.

“It’s always been difficult to find consensus in Latin America,” said Ryan Berg, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank. “This is a hugely diverse region, and it’s obviously difficult for it to speak with one voice.”

On a busy day of diplomacy, the US president was also expected to meet separately with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, and give a speech to the broader group of attendees. Vice-President Kamala Harris was meeting with Caribbean leaders to talk about clean energy, and First Lady Jill Biden was hosting a brunch to build relationships with fellow spouses.

There could be tension when Biden meets for the first time with Bolsonaro, an ally of former President Donald Trump. Bolsonaro is running for a second term and has been casting doubt on the credibility of his country’s elections, something that has alarmed officials in Washington.

When Bolsonaro accepted an invitation to the summit, he asked that Biden not confront him over his election attacks, according to three of the Brazilian leader’s Cabinet ministers, who requested anonymity to discuss the issue.

Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, rejected the idea that Biden had agreed to any conditions for the meeting with Bolsonaro.

“There are no topics off limits in any bilateral the president does, including with President Bolsonaro,” Sullivan told reporters. He added, “I do anticipate that the president will discuss open, free, fair and transparent democratic elections.”

The nature of democracy itself became a sticking point when planning the guest list for the event. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador wanted the leaders of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua to be invited, but the US resisted because it considers them authoritarians.