Article by PBI-Canada
Photo of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the previous Summit of the Americas, Lima, Peru, 2018.
Americas Society/Council of the Americas recently reported: “One item early on [US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s] agenda for 2021 will be when the United States will host a virtual Summit of the Americas in April.”
That virtual summit is expected to include US President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Colombian President Ivan Duque, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei, and other leaders from the Americas.
What might be on the agenda of the Summit of the Americas?
So far, the US State Department has only noted: “Each Summit focuses on a critical area of cooperation that all countries in the Americas can support, and allows the region as a whole to work together on such issues as increasing economic competitiveness, catalyzing development, enhancing access to energy and communication technology, strengthening regional security, countering trafficking, and promoting democracy and human rights.”
Here are some issues that could be on the agenda of the summit:
Migration
Migration continues to be a pressing issue in the Americas.
Newsweek has noted: “Activists want Biden to honor his campaign promises, pointing to ending the Remain in Mexico policy, ending metering, which limits the number of people who can access the asylum system each day, and putting an asylum system in place that is safe and efficient and doesn’t leave people in limbo interminably.”
But Deutsche Welle has reported: “Two Biden advisers made that clear in a written interview with Spain’s EFE news agency at the end of December: ‘The migrants and asylum seekers should in no way believe that the border will suddenly open.’”
“Biden does, however, plan to process asylum cases more quickly and allow more applicants into the US than in the Trump era.”
That article adds: “The new administration also plans to do more to fight the root causes of mass migration by earmarking 4 billion US dollars for efforts to help Latin American countries fight poverty and crime within their own borders. The funds will go to specific projects and be made conditional on adherence to recognized legal standards.”
The peace process and social leaders in Colombia
Just prior to the US election, CNN reported: “Experts believe a Biden administration would put more pressure on Duque to protect rights defenders. ‘Biden would be more supportive of the peace process and critical of the social leaders’ killings in Colombia’, said Adam Isaacson, director for defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America.”
On January 29, Biden’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Colombia’s foreign minister Claudia Blum.
The readout from the meeting between Blinken and Blum notes: “The Secretary expressed the United States’ strong support for peace in Colombia. He pledged to partner closely with the Colombian government as it extends the benefits of peace throughout the country, ensures the protection of human rights, and defeats the narcotraffickers and transnational criminal groups that threaten regional security.”
Based on that, Colombia Reports has commented: “A press release by Blinken’s spokesperson Ned Price made it clear that US President Joe Biden’s priorities would require major policy changes from his far-right Colombian counterpart Ivan Duque.”
A hemispheric free trade agreement
Ryan C. Berg of the American Enterprise Institute and Lauri Tähtinen of Americas Outlook already seem to be making the case for a renewed push for a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) agreement (that faced massive protests at the summit in Quebec City in 2001). They have commented: “In 2021, the United States will once again host the triennial Summit of the Americas—and it must put free trade squarely back on the agenda.”
They add: “If Ottawa and Mexico City would welcome greater integration with other regional economies to balance the United States, and if Brasília is newly open to joining in, many other capitals would have good reasons to come to the party.”
Berg has co-authored another article that argues: “The Biden administration would be wise to revisit existing regional trade deals. The Central American Free Trade Agreement-Dominican Republic (CAFTA-DR) was passed in 2005 and, given the dire state of the Northern Triangle and the possibility of an imminent migration crisis, is ripe for renewal.”
Manuel Pérez-Rocha of the Washington, DC-based Institute for Policy Studies has stated: “Human rights in the broadest sense — including economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights — must have primacy over corporate and investor rights, and there needs to be legally binding obligations on transnational corporations.”
And Michel Forst, a former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, wrote in The Guardian several years ago that: “Trade agreements with countries where environmental defenders are under threat should contemplate measures to prevent, investigate and remedy violations against activists.”
Venezuela
Reuters has reported: “Biden’s administration will continue to recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the South American country’s president, [says] Anthony Blinken. Blinken told members of the U.S. Senate that Biden would seek to ‘more effectively target’ sanctions on the country, which aim to oust President Nicolas Maduro.”
In early-January, Reuters also reported that the Lima Group (which includes Canada, Colombia, Guatemala, and Honduras) does not “recognize the legitimacy or legality of the National Assembly installed on January 5” in Venezuela.
Canadian Foreign Policy Institute coordinator Bianca Mugyenyi has questioned Canada’s collaboration in the Lima Group with “Honduran president, Juan Orlando Hernández, with far weaker constitutional legitimacy than Maduro [and] Colombian president Ivan Duque, who oversees much greater human rights violations.”
Climate change
Michael Shifter, President of the Inter-American Dialogue, has commented: “Climate change will have a prominent place on the inter-American agenda.”
It’s not clear the specific date of the Summit of the Americas, but Deutsche Welle has reported: “Biden [has] also said the United States will host a climate assembly [also reported as a world leaders’ summit] on April 22 where it is expected to strengthen its carbon reduction pledges under the Paris Agreement on climate change.”
PBI-USA will continue to follow news reports about the Summit of the Americas and provide/share analysis on its implications for human rights.
Photo: Protests against the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) at the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, Canada in April 2001.
