Biden receives Latin American leaders while US attention is on Israel

Seven Latin American leaders will meet this Friday with the US president, Joe Bidento discuss increased economic investments and historical levels of migration in the region.

At a time when United States foreign policy is focused on the conflicts in Israel and Ukraine, Biden pauses to listen to the members of the Alliance for Economic Prosperity of the Americas (APEP), an initiative of his Government created in mid-2022.

The South American leaders Gustavo Petro, from Colombia, will participate in the meeting; Gabriel Boric, from Chile; Dina Boluarte, from Peru, and the Uruguayan Luis Lacalle. Also the president of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, and that of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, as well as the Ecuadorian president, Guillermo Lasso, and the Mexican chancellor, Alicia Bárcena.

The objective, according to the White House, is to reaffirm the “commitment” of “deepen economic integration” of the continent, signed during the Summit of the Americas in June of last year.

Criticism of the strategy for the region has already begun to sound in Washington, during an event this Thursday at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The Costa Rican president regretted that the US trade plan treats all Latin American countries equally.

“USA. is treating the presidents of the region without sufficient differentiation in the economic part. “We would all be much better off, including the United States, if there was greater cooperation and reciprocity,” Chaves stated.

The Uruguayan president in turn criticized the relationship between his country and the United States. “I was a little sideways.”” and stressed that his government has a lot to offer in economic and commercial terms.

With this summit, the US will try to revive these alliances “strategic” in the region, where it sees an opportunity to diversify its supply chain, as highlighted by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, also at the IDB.

The injection of capital to Latin America could bring an increase in commercial possibilities through the promotion of renewable energies and the production of semiconductors and medical supplies, he noted.

Yellen mentioned the potential to create “vertical supply chains” for the production of batteries using mined lithium “locally”. Chile, Argentina and Bolivia have the 60% of all the identified resources of this mineral in the world, according to data from the United Nations Development Program. Left-wing governments distance themselves from Israel

The bloc of leftist governments in Latin America, including Chile, Colombia and Mexico, have been distancing themselves from Washington’s position of “unconditional support for Israel.”

This marked difference could create a gap during the meeting between these governments, which the US considers strong allies, and the White House.

Boric even called on other Latin American countries this Thursday to join together to demand that international law be respected in the conflict, alleging that the “Israel’s disproportionate and disproportionate response” affects their nations.

Petro, who has maintained good relations with Biden so far in office, has been one of the leaders in the region who has most harshly criticized Israel, even threatening to break relations with the country.

Mexico, through its ambassador to the UN, has urged a ceasefire, something that Washington opposes, and criticizes the “illegal” actions by Israel in the “occupied Palestinian territories”. Historical migration levels

At Friday’s meeting, the leaders will also discuss strategies to address historic levels of migration in the region, one of the White House’s main concerns due to criticism from the opposition.

The Democratic Government has provided aid to Latin American countries that receive migrants to strengthen their reception systems, among its series of measures to “contain” the movement of people towards its southern border.

All in all, fiscal year 2023 reached a historical record in the arrival of migrants at the border with Mexico, with 2.5 million people, including both those who were detained crossing irregularly and those who showed up at the ports of entry.

For the first time in history, the majority of migrants did not come from Mexico or Central America, a fact that reveals a change in the movement of people in the region. This is due in part to an increase in Venezuelan migration to the US, at its highest point with more than 260,000 people, as well as an increase in the arrival of Colombians (159,000), Ecuadorians (116,229), Chinese ( 24,314) and Indians (41,770).

Friday’s meeting is the first summit of APEP, which also includes Canada, Barbados and Panama, but whose governments have not confirmed attendance.