The second day of plenary meetings of the Summit of the Americas was so poor that many analysts wonder if this ninth edition will not be the last.
“The truth, the truth, is that the president [Joe] Biden has not managed to bring together the leaders who came. This is not a question of [las ausencias de] Cuba, Nicaragua or Venezuela, but when they talked about economic unity, the fight against global warming or even COVID-19, there was nothing that constituted a novelty,” Mexican economist Álvaro Céspedes told the Televisa network.
Biden arrives at the last day of the event this Friday with what could be an ace up his sleeve, that is, a solid announcement on the big topic of the meeting: immigration. Two journalists attending the summit told OnCuba that the expectation that Biden could announce a regional migration agreement would constitute the great novelty of the summit.
But little has been leaked. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told the Univision network that the president would talk about the issue, but nothing more. This led to speculation about the relevance of a migration agreement between countries when the great claim is within the United States, where the situation of twelve million undocumented immigrants has not yet been resolved, as an activist told the same network.
washington already has migration agreements with several Central American nations: they imply the retention of possible immigrants in their countries pending a positive response from the United States. Meanwhile, in the internal sphere, an immigration reform has not finished appearing.
That is why this Friday could be key for Biden, experts say. In Los Angeles, news is expected tomorrow, but that does not mean a solution. “If Biden presents a plan agreed upon with the others and this does not work, the border pressure will be greater and it would be time to ask if there will be another Summit of the Americas,” Céspedes said.
Biden mentioned the issue of the crisis at the opening of the meeting the day before, calling illegal migration “unacceptable” and urging all countries in the region to commit to curb the crisis. The president pointed out that although “controlled” and legal migration is positive for all nations, illegal migration is not. He affirmed that the only solution to what has been experienced in recent years in the American continent is through a regional migratory pact that changes the perspective of action of all countries. Whether or not he leaves this summit is a doubt shared by many.
“The declaration [final] it will represent a commitment by all to find a reasonable solution and improve stability,” the president said.
This Thursday, Biden spoke before a group of entrepreneurs and business executives from the region and once again urged the creation of an Alliance for Economic Prosperity in the Americas, another of the many agreements that have been planned in the United States to promote recovery and growth of the Latin American economy.
Latin America, “which represents 31.9% of world GDP, is one of the most dynamic economic regions in the world, and the United States’ ties with the rest of the hemisphere are broad and deep,” the president recalled.
“To meet our aspirations, we will work to direct our public institutions and funding mechanisms to leverage much higher levels of private investment. Together we will reinvigorate regional economic institutions in the hemisphere, such as the Inter-American Development Bank, including through reforms that advance climate ambition, social inclusion, and private sector development with the possibility of future capital to IDB Invest, and we will ensure that the international financial and economic institutions give due priority to the region. We will also work to support countries that host large numbers of migrants or refugees, or that want to make ambitious reforms that are in line with the Alliance’s goals,” Biden said.
He didn’t get much applause.
