Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection
(June 10, 2022)
The U.S.-hosted Summit of the Americas ends today. U.S. President Joe Biden said that the United States and Latin American countries will announce a joint “Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection,” describing it as “a transformative new approach to invest in the region and solutions that embrace stability.” The declaration is expected to include Spain and Canada, in addition to the Latin American countries.
It will contain four pillars: stabilization and assistance to countries hosting migrants; new legal pathways for foreign workers; a joint approach to border protection, including tackling smuggling networks; and a coordinated response to historic flows across the U.S.-Mexico border. (New York Times)
Administration officials said that the agreement isn’t binding and is expected to be coupled with commitments from countries including Canada and Spain to resettle migrants from Latin America. Experts say it will likely be the most significant outcome of the three-day summit, reports the Wall Street Journal.
But the absence of leaders from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are a major challenge to advancing on migration issues. And other countries, like Colombia and Ecuador, called for more U.S. support to deal with migrant flows from Venezuela, reports the New York Times.
Additionally, the exclusion of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela from the Summit of the Americas continued to dominate headlines yesterday as leaders from the region used the conference podium to denounce U.S. gatekeeping to the forum.
Argentine President Alberto Fernández delivered a combative and critical speech that rejected U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to leave out the three countries due to their undemocratic governments. “Being a host country does not grant the ability to impose a right of admission,” said Fernández, who argued that regional relations would’ve been served better by a “united” Americas “without exclusions.” Fernández said that “dialogue and diversity is the best way to promote democracy.” (Buenos Aires Times)
Belize Prime Minister John Briceño also objected to the exclusions and to the continued U.S. embargo on Cuba."“This summit belongs to all of the Americas — it is therefore inexcusable that there are countries of the Americas that are not here, and the power of the summit is diminished by their absence,” Briceño said. “At this most critical juncture, when the future of our hemisphere is at stake, we stand divided. … Geography, not politics, defines the Americas.” (Associated Press)
Not all absences related to Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Guatemala and El Salvador skipped over U.S. criticism of their administrations — there has been significant democratic backsliding in both. Though the U.S. sought to woo absent countries — anxious to avoid embarrassment at the the summit — it was rebuffed in the case of El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, who refused to even pick up the phone for U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, reports the Associated Press.
Bolsonaro and Biden meet
Bolsonaro and Biden met yesterday, the first time the two leaders have spoken privately. They were gracious to each other in a public photo-op before the closed-door session, despite Bolsonaro’s questioning earlier this week of Biden’s electoral victory in 2020.
Media reports indicated that Bolsonaro — who obtained the bilateral meeting in exchange for attending the summit — had sought assurances that Brazil’s elections and climate policies would be off the agenda, but the White House indicated this week that they would be part of the discussion between the two.
During the public portion of their meeting, Biden praised Brazil’s “vibrant, inclusive democracy and strong electoral institutions,” a show of support for a system Bolsonaro often criticizes.
Bolsonaro, who experts say is setting the stage to challenge the legitimacy of an eventual electoral loss in October was more ambivalent: “We do wish to have honest, clean, transparent, auditable, reliable elections” so that there is no “shadow of a doubt whatsoever following the elections ...I came to office through democracy, and I’m quite certain when I leave office it will also be through democratic means."
In the public portion, Biden praised Brazil for making real sacrifices in an effort to protect the Amazon rainforest. “I think the rest of the world should be able to help you preserve as much as you can,” he said. In reference to the Amazon, Bolsonaro told Biden that “at times we feel threatened in our sovereignty in that region of the country. But the fact is that Brazil does very well preserve its territory.” The two clashed before Biden assumed office, over the threat of international sanctions in response to Amazon deforestation.
Reports indicate that Biden promised Bolsonaro that the United States will reconsider tariffs levied on Brazilian steel.
Bolsonaro was also expected to push for funding to assist Brazilian deforestation efforts, though environmental groups have argued against this approach given his administration’s track-record on climate efforts. The two leaders agreed to work together on preventing further deforestation of the Amazon, the White House said yesterday.
(Associated Press, New York Times, Reuters, Bloomberg, Reuters)
News Briefs
More Regional
A new report by the Inter-American Dialogue emphasizes the connection between climate change and migration in Central America’s Northern Triangle. The report analyzes the core challenges to making climate adaptation projects more effective and sustainable in the region and outlines recommendations for US assistance.
China has widened the gap on the United States in trade terms in large swathes of Latin America since Biden came into office early last year, reports Reuters.
Regional Relations
Nicaragua’s government authorized Russian troops, planes and ships to deploy in the country for purposes of training, law enforcement or emergency response. The Ortega administration also authorized the presence of small contingents of Russian troops for “exchange of experiences and training,” reports Al Jazeera.
Colombia
The U.S. wants to use drones to spray to kill coca plants in Colombia, because it says improvised explosive devices, ambushes, and hazardous wildlife are threats to personnel, reports Vice.
Brazil
Brazil is rushing to roll out high-tech alternatives to fertilizer to boost farm production in response to global price surges exacerbated by Russia’s war in Ukraine, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Migration
The U.S. Biden administration expelled nearly 4,000 Haitians on 36 deportation flights in May — a significant increase over the previous three months. The uptick has rekindled criticism that the Biden administration treats Black migrants differently than others, an allegation it denies, reports the New York Times.
A 5,000 strong migrant caravan walking across Mexico towards the U.S. split yesterday — about 2,000 mainly younger male migrants set out walking Thursday from the southern town of Huixtla. But about 1,000 migrants, mainly families with children, decided to wait to see if they could get some sort of temporary exit visa. (Associated Press)
Argentina
“Doble militancia” – the popular mobilizations and political coalition-building pushing for reproductive rights as issues of human rights, public health, and social justice – contributed to the successful passage of Argentina’s landmark abortion legalization law in 2020, Brenda Werth and Katherine Zien look at lessons for the U.S. at the AULA blog.
Bolivia
A wildcat gold mining boom in Bolivia’s amazon has fueled conflict between small-scale prospectors and local Indigenous groups, reports Reuters. Officials and indigenous leaders are worried about how the mining is impacting the local environment and waterways, and encroaching on Indigenous lands as has happened in the Amazon in Peru and Brazil.
Peru
A group of indigenous Peruvian communities agreed to temporarily lift a protest that forced the Las Bambas copper mine to halt operations for more than 50 days, the longest in the mine’s history. (Reuters)
Music
Google Arts & Culture launched a Gilberto Gil digital museum with his music, his history, his collaborations and a lost album.