WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris has spent just three days in Latin America since President Joe Biden assigned her 15 months ago to tackle migration issues in Central America — half as long as First Lady Jill Biden devoted during a single trip to the region last month.
The lack of travel is a reminder of what some observers see as ambivalence from Harris toward a high-profile issue that is politically fraught at home and challenging abroad as she embarks Monday on a week of diplomacy at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles. The issue of migration is certain to take center stage at the conference, a meeting of nations across the Western Hemisphere intended to showcase U.S. leadership in the region as the Biden administration seeks to tackle such complex challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.
Harris and other top U.S. officials have been scrambling in recent weeks to shore up attendance at the summit, which some countries have threatened to boycott over the Biden administration's decision to exclude leaders of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
