TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Opening summit, Biden says democracy 'essential ingredient' for Americas
"When democracy is under assault around the world, let us unite again and renew our conviction that democracy is not only the defining feature," Biden said, "but the essential ingredient to the Americas' future."
Change Size
US President Joe Biden speaks during opening ceremony of the the 9th Summit of the Americas at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California on June 8, 2022. (AFP/Jim Watson)
U
S President Joe Biden urged leaders of the Americas to prove to their people the dividends of democracy as he opened a summit bringing most of the hemisphere's leaders to Los Angeles.
"When democracy is under assault around the world, let us unite again and renew our conviction that democracy is not only the defining feature," Biden said, "but the essential ingredient to the Americas' future."
"At this summit, we have an opportunity for us to come together around some bold ideas, ambitious actions, and to demonstrate to our people the incredible power of democracy," Biden said.
Biden welcomed regional leaders to a theater in the downtown of the entertainment capital, with a choreographed dance routine produced by Emilio Estefan, before two days of meetings that will focus on migration, climate change and food insecurity.
Biden acknowledged differences in the region, with Mexico's president declining an invitation over the US refusal to invite the leaders of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela on the grounds that they are not democratic.
"Our region is large and diverse. We don't always agree on everything," Biden said.
But as democracies, he said, the countries can work through disagreements "with mutual respect and dialogue."
Meanwhile, Biden and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro have agreed to an awkward, hastily arranged meeting in Los Angeles on Thursday for their own different motives.
Biden reached out to Bolsonaro, a far-right populist, in a last-ditch attempt to save a hemispheric summit, while Bolsonaro will use a meeting with the world's most powerful man to boost his image as he heads into a tough re-election campaign.
Biden hosts the Summit of the Americas this week in a push to repair Trump-era damage to ties with Latin America and reassert US primacy over China's growing clout in the region.
At a time of tensions with Russia and China, Biden needs to show that the Americas are united with a well-attended meeting, said Celso Amorim, who took part in three summits as foreign minister for two Brazilian presidents, including Bolsonaro's leftist rival Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.
"But there's a price Biden has to pay: agreeing to invite a Brazilian president who has said there was fraud in the 2020 (US) election," Amorim said.
Bolsonaro praised former President Donald Trump again on Tuesday, a day before his trip, and said in a TV interview that Biden's election win was a "suspicious."
Bolsonaro has done little to make amends in the run-up, complaining of a G20 snub and referring to a "freeze" in US-Brazil relations that were warmer under Trump. Bolsonaro emphasized that it took a personal envoy from Biden to Brasilia to convince him to attend.
The former army captain who cast his presidency after Trump's, has echoed the baseless allegations of fraud in the 2020 vote. Bolsonaro has raised similar doubts about Brazil's voting system, calling it liable to fraud without providing evidence.
His attempts to discredit the elections in October has raised fears he might not accept defeat and that his followers could emulate the Jan. 6 assault on the US Capitol. Senior Biden administration officials have urged Bolsonaro not to undermine confidence in the electoral process.
