Objectives and disagreements of Latin American countries at the APEC summit

Mexico, Peru and Chile, the three Latin American countries that are part of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC), are attending the summit of that alliance being held this week in San Francisco (USA) with disparate objectives and various disagreements, also among themselves, while Colombia seeks to integrate into the group.

The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, will be at the APEC Forum this Thursday and Friday, in the midst of a rift with China, a country he has criticized for its “economic and commercial domain” and for fentanyl trafficking, and with the goal of seeking a meeting with the US president, Joe Biden, to talk about migration.

“Now that I am going to the United States, I am going to discuss the issue with President Biden. I want to continue insisting that an aid plan be approved for the people of Latin America and the Caribbean”, he declared on Monday in his morning press conference.

The attendance of the Mexican president, in what will be only his seventh trip abroad after almost five years in office, will also be marked by his friction with the president of Peru, Dina Boluartewith whom he will avoid appearing in photographs because he considers her “spurious” after the dismissal of the now former Peruvian president Pedro Castillo (2021-2022).

“I hope I don’t have to take a photo, I don’t want it, I tell you this with all my love, with my good faith, I don’t want to take a photo with the president of Peru, I’m not going to go look for her to take a photo“, expressed López Obrador last Thursday.

Peru receives the presidency in the midst of its crisis

Peru and its president, Dina Boluarte, will be among the main protagonists of the APEC summit, since the political crisis that the country is going through has affected its Foreign Ministry, which has faltered with the recent resignation of the already former Minister of Foreign Affairs , Ana Cecilia Gervasi.

Boluarte’s trip to San Francisco, headquarters of the summit and where she will pick up the baton of the next pro tempore Presidency of APEC, will be the president’s fifth trip abroad in less than a year. The previous one, to Washington, caused a hurricane within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that ended up turning into criticism of the president and the image of her that she transfers from Peru.

During the president’s visit to Washington to participate in a regional summit, the official agenda of the Peruvian Presidency announced a bilateral meeting between Boluarte and his American counterpart, Joe Biden, an argument used by the president to justify her trip when requesting permission. mandatory in Congress.

But the meeting was never confirmed by the US authorities and a criticized statement from the Peruvian Foreign Ministry clarified that, due to lack of time, it had not been able to take place, but that both had been able to talk in the hallways of the White House. To corroborate this, he attached photos showing how the Peruvian president held Biden’s hand.

This case unleashed a wave of criticism that led to the resignation of Gervasi and the Peruvian ambassador to the United States. The next day, Javier González-Olaechea, who has been openly against the report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on the deaths in the anti-government protests that shook Peru, was sworn in as chancellor.

Peru will also be the next venue for the APEC summit, which will be held in 2024 in Lima, Trujillo, Ucayali, Cuzco and Arequipa, but the fronts of the forum in San Francisco do not end here for the Andean country, because one of the most tense face to face in the Boluarte Government.

The president will meet for the first time with one of the most critical voices of her mandate abroad, López Obrador, who has defined the Peruvian as “usurper” after the failed self-coup of then President Castillo.

López Obrador’s opposition to the Boluarte Government has been such that for months he refused to transfer the pro tempore Presidency of the Pacific Alliance to the Andean country, which Mexico finally handed over to Chile, and Chile handed over the baton to Peru on December 31. last July.

Chile, in search of greater sustainable integration

The Chilean delegation will be led by the President of the Republic, Gabriel Boric, who, according to sources from the Undersecretary of International Economic Relations, seeks to strengthen and strengthen ties with the 21 economies of the forum and discuss issues of common interest, both bilateral and multilateral level.

Chile’s participation in the Forumreaffirms our country’s commitment to promoting multilateralism, its insertion in the Asia-Pacific basin and the development of APEC objectives, particularly in generating inclusive, sustainable and innovative growth, in addition to greater regional economic integration“, and constitutes an opportunity to “facilitate trade and investment, with a focus on economic and technical cooperation”, pointed out the same sources.

Chile’s main objectives are, in this sense, four.

The first, “actively support the implementation of the Putrajaya Vision 2040 – the forum’s roadmap for the next 20 years -, which establishes as growth drivers for the region sustainable and inclusive growth, regional economic integration, the facilitation of trade and investments, innovation and the digital economy, among others.

Additionally, Chile seeks to generate greater regional economic integration and trade facilitation through local initiatives such as the La Serena Roadmap on Women and Inclusive Growth, 2019-2030; the Marine Debris Roadmap, 2019-2025; the Roadmap to Combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, 2019-2025; and the Artisanal Fishing Roadmap.

Thirdly, the Boric Government intends to advance in the implementation of projects to be executed with APEC funds, opt for new ones and conclude those awarded in 2022 and 2023.

Finally, Chile seeks to support the APEC United States 2023 year, including the substantive agenda and participation in the different forum meetings. Since joining in 1994, Chile has actively participated in all APEC meeting blocks organized by that country.

A chair for Colombia

Colombia will attend the summit with the aspiration of being a full member of the Forum to which it has sought access for almost 30 years to expand its commercial horizons.

“I believe that President Gustavo Petro is in tune with further expanding Colombia’s diplomatic networks and establishing new commercial ties in an area that is undoubtedly the present and will be stronger in the future.“said analyst Manuel Alejandro Rayran, professor at the Externado de Colombia University, to EFE this Monday.

Colombia began efforts to be part of APEC in 1995, but the institutional moratorium on the entry of new members in force at that time and the subsequent decision of the 21 members not to expand the Forum have made it difficult for the country to enter, something that Petro hopes to achieve in the San Francisco summit.

The South American nation has coasts on the Pacific Ocean and important trade with countries in the Asia-Pacific region, mainly with China, which in 2010 became the country’s second trading partner, after the United States, as well as with Japan and South Korea.

“Now we will meet with the US, China and other countries in America and Asia in California to enroll Colombia in the economies of the Pacific, the most important economic region in the world”, wrote the Colombian president on his X account (formerly Twitter).