Biden Backs Economic-Recovery Agenda at Summit of the Americas
Biden Backs Economic-Recovery Agenda at Summit of the Americas
"It further undermines Guaidó…if the U.S. is not even willing to bring him to a meeting," said AS/COA's Eric Farnsworth to the Wall Street Journal.
President Biden on Wednesday addressed a regional summit that has seen its roster scrambled by boycotts from some leaders, including Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who wanted the U.S. to include autocratic countries at the gathering.
Mr. Biden is hosting the Summit of the Americas—which is focused on economic, climate and migration issues—for three days. He laid out an economic-recovery agenda in the aftermath of the pandemic, which he said aims to include mobilizing investments in the region, making supply chains more resilient and pushing for more clean-energy jobs and more-inclusive trade relations between the countries. […]
Juan Guaidó, the opposition leader recognized as Venezuela’s president by the U.S., was another hemispheric leader caught in the guest-list vortex. Mr. Guaidó wasn’t invited to the summit, despite U.S. efforts to promote democracy at the gathering. Mr. Biden instead called Mr. Guaidó Wednesday before arriving in Los Angeles, underscoring his support for the Venezuelan leader.
“It further undermines Guaidó, diminishes him as a leader and his claim to be interim president if the U.S. is not even willing to bring him to a meeting,” said Eric Farnsworth, the vice president of the Council of the Americas, a Washington-based think tank. […]
