Biden targets Latin America reset at summit marred by invite tension One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, conceded preparations were "messier than we envisioned."

Reuters ^ | June 5, 2022 | Matt Spetalnick and Dave Graham

[American Number 181269513]

When the United States said last year it would host the 2022 Summit of the Americas, officials had high hopes the event would help repair Trump-era damage to relations and reassert U.S. primacy over China's growing clout in Latin America.

But on the cusp of the coming week's gathering in Los Angeles, U.S. President Joe Biden faces a struggle to make a success of a summit plagued by problems before it even began.

Ideological discord over who to invite, skepticism about U.S. commitment to Latin America, and low expectations for major accords on issues such as migration and economic cooperation have already tarnished the event, officials and analysts say.

"The Americans basically misread the situation in not having foreseen there would be a fuss about who was attending," said Andres Rozental, a former Mexican deputy foreign minister, arguing the summit ran the risk of becoming "lackluster".

One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, conceded preparations were "messier than we envisioned."

Lower-level events begin on Monday, then leaders start to arrive. Biden is due in on Wednesday to formally open the first U.S.-hosted summit since the inaugural gathering in 1994.

Despite pressing concerns such as inflation, mass shootings, and the Ukraine conflict, Biden aims to re-engage with southern neighbors to forge a common vision after years of relative neglect under his 'America First' predecessor, Donald Trump, who skipped the last summit in Lima in 2018.

Those hopes have been tempered by wrangling over who will attend. As host, the United States can choose who it invites but early plans indicated that U.S. antagonists Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua would be excluded on the grounds they are undemocratic.

[American Number 181269513]

With Biden under pressure over record numbers of migrants at the U.S. southern border, he is expected to seek commitments to curb those flows, especially from Mexico and Central America.

I think they meant increase rather than curb.

[wrench]

ILLEGAL immigrants.

[43north]

The Biden abomination is incapable of doing ANYTHING right so this should be no surprise.

[DIRTYSECRET]

*Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua would be excluded on the grounds they are undemocratic. That upset some leaders, including Mexico’s leftist president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who said he would not go unless all countries from the Americas were invited.*

Why show open support for the gringos? Labrador doesn’t care about those other countries lack of an invite. Just keep your distance from the gringos. Not going suggest there’s nothing to be gained otherwise. He knows there’s big elephant in the room and it’s not the GOP.

[Paleo Conservative]

"preparations were "messier than we envisioned."

He'll need several boxes of Depends.

[j.havenfarm]

Of the cadre of morons who pull Biden’s strings, Ron Klain is at the apex. Thank goodness his departure has been announced to be after the election. Plenty more time for him and his minions to keep violating the first rule of holes, all to the rats greater devastation in the election