Los Angeles: Joe Biden called for strengthening climate-related actions at a North-South American summit on Thursday, hoping for at least small progress with Brazil, where far-right leaders could hold a tense meeting with the U.S. president. .. About 20 leaders have landed in Los Angeles for the Summit of the Americas. So Biden begged them late Wednesday to show that democracy can produce results. “There is no reason why the Western Hemisphere shouldn’t be safe, prosperous and democratic, from the northernmost tip of Canada to the southern tip of Chile,” he told a welcome reception with pop performers at a theater in downtown Los Angeles.
However, as China rapidly invaded Latin America and Washington long regarded it as its territory, Biden avoided huge pledges and instead sought cooperation in the target area. The summit on Thursday focused on climate, and Vice President Kamala Harris was tasked with meeting with leaders of Caribbean countries that are particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels.
One of the outliers from the International Choir to Fight Climate Change has horrified environmentalists to warn that further erosion of the Amazon’s rainforests will destroy important natural sinks of Earth’s carbon emissions. I’m Jail Bolsonaro, President of Brazil, the champion of the agribusiness. The White House will help Brazil, Colombia and Peru seek ways to reduce Amazon deforestation motivated by the commodities industry prior to the first meeting between Biden and Bolsonaro on Thursday. He said he participated in the initiative.
The White House also said Brazil and four other countries are participating in the renewable energy initiative initiated at the United Nations Climate Summit in Copenhagen last year. Under the agreement, countries are committed to working towards a renewable energy target of 70% of the energy mix by 2030. Despite criticism of the Amazon, Brazil, the sixth most populous country, is one of the least carbon-intensive economies for major economies. And we have already achieved our renewable energy goals, primarily through hydropower.
“Tropical playing cards”
Meeting with Bolsonaro can be a nuisance for more than just the climate. Bolsonaro is an ally of Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump and appears to follow the former president’s playbook claiming that Brazil’s October elections are under threat of fraud. On the eve of his trip, Bolsonaro went further by supporting Trump’s allegations of irregularity in the 2020 US elections that Biden won. There is no evidence of widespread fraud.
Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the president would not hesitate to discuss Brazil’s elections. “We look forward to the president discussing open, free, fair and transparent democratic elections,” Sullivan told reporters. Bolsonaro lags behind his potential challenger, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in an early poll on a left-wing icon imprisoned for controversial corruption. increase.
Lula’s victory means a further left swing in Latin America. Colombia, one of the closest allies of the United States, can see historic changes on June 19 if left-wing Gustavo Petro, who topped the vote in the first vote, wins. Biden has promised to work with leaders throughout the ideology, but is obsessed with inviting leftist leaders from Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela because they are dictators.
His stance led to a boycott of the summit by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. This is an important partner in dealing with the growing number of immigrants to the United States. Harris has begun a week-long summit by announcing a $ 1.9 billion pledge in hopes that companies in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras will create jobs and prevent migration. This is a problem that Trump’s Republican Party has caught.
At the summit, the Byden administration also announced plans to train 500,000 health workers in Latin America and a $ 300 million project to improve food security. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has blocked grain exports. Biden also announced what he called a new Economic Partnership Agreement between the Americas, with few specific details and no promises of financing or increased market access. – AFP
