Kamala Harris, Joe Biden’s deputy trying to show his influence at the Summit of the Americas

US Vice President Kamala Harris will have the opportunity to connect with leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean by hosting them in her country this week for the Summit of the Americas. However, whether it will be able to exert its influence remains to be seen in the main hemispheric encounter, returning to the United States for the first time since 1994.

The leaders of the region hope to have direct access to powerful interlocutors within the White House since Joe Biden toured Latin America as vice president.

But beyond Harris’ attempts to deal with the root causes of migration – where there has been slow progress – the region hasn’t seen much more than that on its side, which some experts see as a symptom of the United States’ abandonment of Latin America.

In recent days, Harris and the president have made numerous phone calls to ensure the presence of leftist leaders who have criticized the United States’ decision to exclude from the top to the authoritarian governments of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

The efforts, however, have yielded little success. Among those who have decided to stay in their countries there are the presidents of Mexico, Guatemala and Hondurasthe only three leaders Harris met on his two trips to the region.

Bad start

Brian Winter, vice president of the Council of the Americas, said Harris started badly as Biden’s chosen person to address the social and economic causes of migration to the United States.

In a May 2021 speech in Washington, Harris, a former California prosecutor, mentioned the word corruption at least 10 timesarousing resentment in a region where its leaders are reluctant to take lessons from US politicians.

“Corruption is a huge problem, but there are certainly more delicate ways to deal with it,” said Winter. “Many doors were closed before he even got here.”

Harris’ biggest accomplishment in the region so far has been helping guarantee the commitments of American companies to invest 1.2 billion dollars in Central America, from where every year hundreds of thousands of young people flee violence and poverty.

On Tuesday it announced commitments of more than $ 1.9 billion with the goal of the private sector creating jobs that strengthen economic growth and discourage young Central Americans to leave their countries.

New initiatives include a $ 700 million expansion of cell phone networks in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador by Miami-based Millicom; a $ 270 million investment from Visa to promote digital transactions and $ 150 million from Gap. inc. which could create around 5,000 jobs.

But the Biden administration’s most ambitious proposal in the region – a $ 4 billion aid package for Central America – gets stuck in Congress and there seems to be little effort to revive him.

immigration

Meanwhile, the number of migrants on the US border with Mexico has risen to the highest levels over decades, even though the administration has done little to implement Biden’s election promise of a “human” asylum system that would end the era of restrictions imposed by former President Donald Trump.

One of the challenges is finding partners in a region where institutions are weak and corruption and gang violence are rampant.

None of the countries Harris works with will be represented at the Summit from its president, according to the list of delegations the White House released on Tuesday. All three send their foreign ministers.

And in recent months, Washington has struck a stronger tone with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, accusing him of using his popularity to amass more power and trample democratic mechanisms.

Meanwhile, Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei said in May that he would not participate after the United States. criticized his decision re-elect an attorney general suspected of corruption.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment it was the absence of the president of Honduras, Xiomara Castrowho was praised by US officials for her decision to extradite her predecessor, Juan Orlando Hernández, to face drug charges in New York federal court.

Harris, who attended Castro’s inauguration in January, recently spoke with the Honduran president in a last-minute attempt to get her to travel to Los Angeles.

Finally, Castro sided with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in boycotting the Summit. It is very likely that in making her decision he had in mind the rapid recognition by the United States of the new government of Honduras when her husband, President Manuel Zelaya, was removed from his post by the military in 2009.

“It’s a much tougher group of actors the United States has to deal with, even than the (Barack) Obama administration has been facing,” said Rebecca Bill Chavez, president of Inter-American Dialogue, a think tank of Washington.

Chavez, who was a Harris advisor on foreign policy matters when he ran for president, welcomed the Vice President’s approach to gender-based violence and migrant womenwhich previous governments did not take into account.

But Biden’s record is hard to beat. As vice president, he has made 16 trips to Latin America and his presence in the region has been of great importance since his days as chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee. when he helped design Plan Colombiaby far the largest package of military and economic aid to the region.

Chávez said that on the issues of climate change, migration and inclusive economic growth, the Biden government has the opportunity to show a vision that appeals to all countries regardless of their ideological leanings or bilateral agenda with the United States.

“To succeed you and the Biden administration they really need to broaden their perspectiveChavez said, “Los Angeles is the perfect opportunity to show them they are doing it, but it can’t be a standalone event, it requires a follow-up to make it a reality.”

Agency AP

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