US President Joe Biden on Wednesday praised democracy as a “distinctive seal” of the American continent and called for greater cooperation between countries in the region that share this system of government.
In his speech at the opening of the IX Summit of the Americas, held in Los Angeles, Biden asked participants to demonstrate “the power of democracies”, without referring directly to his controversial decision not to invite three countries that he does not consider democratic to the meeting. : Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
The American president stressed, however, that democracy “is being attacked all over the world” and that the Inter-American Democratic Charter includes the commitment of the countries of the region to the “promotion and defense” of democracy throughout the planet.
“Let’s come together again and renew our conviction that democracy is not just the defining feature of American history, but an essential ingredient of future Americans,” Biden suggested.
“At this summit, we have the opportunity to come together around bold ideas, ambitious actions and to demonstrate to our people the incredible power of democracies to deliver concrete benefits and make life better for all,” he added.
The US decision to exclude Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from the summit deeply upset several Latin American leaders, such as the Mexican Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the Bolivian Luis Arce and the Honduran Xiomara Castro, who decided not to attend the meeting and send their ministers of Foreign Affairs.
This is the first time that the United States has hosted a Summit of the Americas since the first edition, held in Miami in 1994, under the government of Bill Clinton.
Biden said many things have changed since then, but the “spirit” of hope that marked that summit is still needed to meet today’s challenges.
“There is no reason why the American continent cannot be safe, prosperous and democratic, from the north of Canada to the extreme south of Chile. We have all the tools we need,” he said.
Biden also announced an alliance between Latin America and the Caribbean to promote the continent’s economic prosperity as it recovers from the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, albeit without creating new trade agreements.
In addition, the American president proposed a reform of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to give the private sector a greater role in the development of the continent.
Biden will focus on the climate crisis during this Thursday, while on Friday he will sign the so-called “Los Angeles Declaration on Migration” with other countries, in which concrete commitments are expected to be made to manage migratory flows in the region.
During his opening speech, the American president already anticipated that he considers irregular immigration unacceptable and asked that the countries of the region assume their “responsibility” in the migratory crisis.
“Safe and orderly immigration is good for our economies, including the United States, where it can be a catalyst for sustainable growth. But irregular immigration is unacceptable,” Biden told several heads of state from the Americas.
For this reason, he stated that the objective of the summit is to seal a regional migration pact that provides answers to people fleeing their countries and that contains a “new approach” in which all the nations of the continent assume their “responsibility”.
In addition, he defended the inclusion of “strong measures against traffickers who take advantage of missing persons”.
“The declaration will represent a commitment by everyone to find a reasonable solution and improve stability,” Biden said.
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