Summit Of The Americas Kicks Off Today: AMLO To Boycott

The week-long Summit of the Americas begins in Los Angeles today amid criticism that the Biden administration has fumbled an opportunity to reassert US influence in Latin America.

• On the agenda: post-pandemic recovery, regional economic integration, climate change mitigation, and immigration policies.
• The summit comes at a critical time for the US. Washington’s most reliable ally, Colombia, is soon to announce the election of an anti-establishment president and China continues to make inroads in a region which has begun to trend away from the US.
• Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) announced today that he will not attend the summit due to the exclusion of Cuba, Venezuela. Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard will be dispatched in his stead.
• AMLO's absence from the leaders' events on Wednesday and Thursday will be conspicuous, and may undermine White House ambitions to engender a US led regional dialogue.
• The Hill: '[López Obrador] is also a transactional politician who saw in the Biden administration’s hemming and hawing over inviting the three openly non-democratic regimes as an opportunity to raise his regional profile.’
• • Monday/Tuesday
    • Leaders arrive in Los Angeles
  • Wednesday
    • 09:30PT – 17:30 BST: Ministerial meeting chaired by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
    • 17:00PT – 01:00 BST: Opening ceremony, hosted by President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden
    • Full schedule: https://www.state.gov/events-summit-of-the-americas/