After much drama over what nations would be in attendance, most leaders in the Western Hemisphere are gathering this week in Los Angeles during the ninth Summit of the Americas, a high-profile meeting that is expected to deliver an accord on managing unprecedented levels of migrants throughout the region.
Since the inaugural summit in 1994 in Miami, the gathering of the heads of state has created a unique opportunity to advance deals and initiatives to tackle the region’s most pressing challenges. The White House, with the input of the Organization of American States and participating countries, has put out an agenda focused on broad themes such as migration, pandemic resilience, combating climate change, digital transformation and democratic governance.
But details of concrete initiatives have been scarce. And a diplomatic spat with Mexico and other countries that insisted that the authoritarian governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua should be invited to the summit has underscored how democratic values are backsliding in the continent and how considerations over migration, seen by many as primarily a domestic U.S. policy issue, had dominated the debate over the invites.
