China and Russia strengthen their holdings in Latin America as US power wanes – boycotts overshadow American summit

Los Angeles, California. Dozens of heads of state and ministers are expected in Los Angeles this week, but the participation of many countries in the Inter-American Summit is uncertain.

The meeting is held once every three or four years between the 35 countries of North America, Central and South America and the Caribbean. The host country has the right to decide who is invited.

The President of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador boycott meeting (move to another service) personally because not all countries were eligible. The presidents of Bolivia, Chile, Honduras and Guatemala are also uncertain about their participation, although Biden sent a delegation on a persuasion tour to those countries at the end of May.

The gathering will provide an opportunity for OAS leaders to promote democracy, one of the organization’s main pillars, to negotiate trade agreements and discuss issues in the region, such as U.S.-Cuba relations.

The high-level event will only be held in the United States for the second time since 1994, when policymakers met for the first time in Miami.

The decision not to invite leaders from certain countries is part of U.S. avoidance policy, says professor of political science and Latin at Loyola Marymount University Fernando J. Guerra.

“The exclusion of the presidents of Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba from the guest list clearly shows that the United States only wants to discuss things that bring the countries together and ignores the differences,” Guerra told on the phone.

– It is we who have created the most autocrats in America. Many Americans don’t know history, so they don’t understand why Latin American countries look at things from a different perspective.

Attitudes towards and interpretation of democracy are one of the factors that distinguish member states. Guerra believes American democracy has shown its weakness over the past four to five years.

– In terms of constitutions, Latin American countries are much more democratic than we are. The practice of the electorate, the practices of the Senate, and the fraudulent arrangement of the boundaries of the constituencies belittle the broader concept of democracy as a whole, the professor criticizes.

Guerra said the event would have given Biden the opportunity to strengthen regional ties, improve relations and increase cooperation. Individual countries, including the United States, will not be able to solve many of their problems without a joint action plan between member states.

– Climate change is an existential threat that the United States wants to address, at least in a technological sense. At the same time, it will continue to produce fossil energy itself, but will teach others how to use it, Guerra says.

Guerra sees the U.S.’s fading attention to the Western Hemisphere as a mistake that has led to a decline in the country’s influence in the region.

“The United States’ policy towards Latin America lacks direction and coherence,” Guerra said.

He cites as an example the slowness of the Biden administration in appointing ambassadors to the region, creating the entire infrastructure for cooperation.

– The United States would be in a much better position for such projects, and not just because of its geographical location. The summit would be a great opportunity to change course, Guerra said.

Cuba has been a wreck in the history of the OAS summits and the entire organization. The island nation was separated from the organization after the transition to communism in 1961, but was readmitted in 2009.

Cuba did little to attend summits until the presidents Raul Castro and Barack Obama shook hands in Panama in 2015. A symbolic gesture softened the gap between the US and Cuba, however Donald Trumpin and during Biden’s presidency, relations have cooled again.

If the boycotts materialize, they will pour cold water on the necks of the organizers of the meeting, as the White House has emphasized the unity of the region in the preparations for the event.

– It is mainly a matter of lost opportunities, not so much of significant consequences. They need to be fixed in meetings between the two, but they will take more time to arrange, Guerra explains.

The professor fears that the host city of Los Angeles will also be licking his keys and says that despite the importance of the meeting, “no one knows anything about it”.

– Of course, the mayor has sent invitations to a dinner hosted by the city, but the big event is not lit up at the local level at all.

Local comments support Guerra’s claim of poor communication. Of the six people who responded to none, none were aware of the summit.

– I haven’t heard that this class event is in Los Angeles. You’d think it would be played everywhere, wonders Laura Migeotte.

If this meeting had been almost anywhere else, it would certainly have been an event of a year or at least a month, Professor Guerra believes.

– Here it may not even be the most important event of the day.

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