A fiasco looms at the Summit of the Americas
With no clear results since the first Summit of the Americas, the presidents of the American nations are meeting in the United States for its next round, minus Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua and Mexico. Photo: Courtesy.
By: Abigail A. Correa Cisneros
The various issues discussed at the Summit of the Americas since its beginning in 1990, remain unresolved in the region. Currently pending are the two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, the climate crisis we are going through, and migration.
This meeting lacks, among other things, inclusion, after leaving out Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela and for which the President of Mexico said he will not attend. However, his representative will be the Foreign Minister, Marcelo Ebrard addressing the issue of Cuba and the blockade.
Every three years political leaders from all over the continent meet to discuss and define actions to face the problems and challenges shared by the region. It seems that little has been achieved. The region continues to experience problems of marginalization, migration, violence and economic problems.
In this meeting, the focus is on climate change. «Building a sustainable, resilient and equitable future» is the theme of the summit being held in the United States from June 6 to 10. Other topics to be discussed include democracy, human rights, justice, security, trade, disaster management, sustainable development, education, health, gender equality, connectivity, among others.
Since the summit has been taking place, the pending issues are becoming more and more important in the Americas. Nayar López Castellanos, the coordinator of the Center for Latin American Studies of the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences (FCPyS), considers that: «it has traditionally been a space created by the United States to generate a favorable environment for its interests and its hegemonic condition that has prevailed throughout history».
The researcher and academic secretary of the Center for Research on North America (CISAN), Juan Carlos Barrón Pastor, says that the idea of creating a summit to promote a sustainable, resilient and equitable future creates a set of ambiguities because it is not clear what it refers to. «Many analysts talk about issues such as pandemics, climate change, structural causes of migration and strengthening democracies. What is certain is that Biden is stalled in the Senate and the resources with which he intends to balance China’s investments in the region, are in doubt».
Much of what will be discussed during this summit in the United States has to do with its own political agenda. Joe Biden’s administration presented five projects related to strengthening health systems, addressing climate change, transitioning to clean energy, establishing a regional program for digital transformation and strengthening democratic governance. What remains to be determined is the budget that will be available for these purposes.
At the start of the summit, organizations called for respect for the rights of migrants and for a solution to this problem at its source, the problems that force them to leave their countries.
The Summit of the Americas should «generate specific regional agreements based on respect for human rights standards to guarantee safe transit and attend to the population in mobility, from the south to the north of the continent,» indicated more than 100 social organizations from Mexico.
AMLO’s government allowed the free transit of the caravan heading to the United States, with an estimated 15 thousand people heading north. The National Migration Institute (INM) will deliver humanitarian visas, exit permits and temporary cards so that they can move in the coming days.
The number of people exposes the problem that concerns even those absent from the Summit, because most of the migrants are from Cuba, Venezuela and Central America.
FROM THE CENTER
Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, will host the twelfth session of the Subcommittee on Aquaculture of the Committee on Fisheries of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), to be held from March 7 to 10, 2023, said the Government of Mexico, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in coordination with the National Commission of Aquaculture and Fisheries (Conapesca). Announcing the news at a press conference, the National Commissioner for Aquaculture and Fisheries, Octavio Almada Palafox, accompanied by Governor Alfonso Durazo Montaño, said he was convinced that Sonora and the whole country have a good opportunity to continue consolidating joint efforts among countries to achieve the objectives of the United Nations Organization, (UN), to reach agreements, add experiences for the welfare of Mexican fishing and aquaculture families and to promote the development of the Mexican fishing and aquaculture industry.
Translated by Sydney Metrick
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