By Alejandra Garcia and Bill Hackwell on November 7, 2023
Biden hosts APEP conference at the White House
Last Friday, Washington hosted the inaugural summit of the US-convened Alliance for Economic Prosperity in the Americas (APEP) to strengthen economic ties to address challenges such as migration, the Israeli-Palestinian war, and expanding trade between the US and the rest of the Americas. These concepts may sound lofty and nice however, far from fulfilling these objectives, the meeting exposed President Biden’s double standards amid new unilateral sanctions against targeted countries on the continent, a migration boom mismanaged by his administration, and his encouragement and participation in a war of carnage in the Middle East.
“We are committed to working together to address the historic levels of migration impacting all of our countries,” he said at the beginning of the event, which is a fuzzy attempt to revive the failed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) with a select group of 12 countries that have or seek a free and fair trade agreement with the US that includes Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, Canada, Dominican Republic, Panama, Barbados, Uruguay, and Ecuador. It should be remembered that the FTAA was effectively negated on November 5, 2005 in Mar del Plata at the Summit of the Presidents when thousands led by Hugo Chavez demonstrated against it and sending Bush home empty handed.
But the big question is how do you contain the migration crisis in the continent if not all the countries of the America are present? Foreign Affairs Secretary Alicia Bárcena Ibarra emphasized on the importance of specifically including all Latin America and the Caribbean countries in this forum.
Biden has been criticized for his mishandling of the border crisis. During his election campaign, he promised to restore humanity to the US migration processes to curb illegal entries, and he has done exactly the opposite.
According to David J. Bier, the associate director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, the president has put the thinnest new coat of paint on former US president Donald Trump’s asylum ban and reinstituted it. Contrary to the plain language of the asylum law, immigrants are now presumed ineligible for asylum if they cross the border illegally.
“Biden has also transformed Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” plan into Deport to Mexico. Under Trump, some asylum seekers were supposed to wait in the most dangerous cities in Mexico before getting a hearing north of the border. Under Biden, many asylum seekers are being permanently deported to Mexico with no chance for asylum, even if they are not Mexican. He has also doubled the number of immigrants detained in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities pending removal, and he has negotiated deals to reopen deportations to Venezuela, Cuba, and Haiti. Now he’s even continue to build Trump’s wall.” One could legitimately ask the question, has Biden come through on any of his campaign promises except those made to weapons manufacturers?
Biden also started the meetings with a message of hope despite the challenges posed by the US supported war on Gaza . But how can he call for such hope when the US was the first country to show its unbridled support for Israel in the face of the massacre that was looming after the Palestinian actions of October 7 and now frequently sends shiploads of munitions to Israel if they ask for them or not.
And finally Biden said the summit’s goal was to “harness the incredible economic potential of the Americas and make the Western Hemisphere the most economically competitive region in the world.”
The reality is that APEP is actually a weak response to the steady loss of US hegemony in the hemisphere in the face of China’s growing economic influence, as well as to the latest onslaught by the European Union with its so-called Global Gateway, with which it seeks to secure natural resources in its own region, according to Manuel Pérez Rocha L, investigator of the Institute for Policy Studies.
This is the first summit of its kind, but such paradoxes are not new. It is unlikely that Washington listens to the demands of its neighbors for mutual agreements and respect, and whether this newborn summit will set the continent on a path to a fairer future, with safe and orderly migration and real free trade among all of its neighboring countries. At this time APEP seems like another half baked project from a befuddled and dangerous Washington that carries in it a whiff of desperation.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – English