Summit of the Americas 2022: A Decline of the US Hegemony in Latin America
Written by : Gracia Ayni Warella
The Americas just saw a historical yet controversial summit starting on June 6, 2022, in which the United States of America hosted the Ninth Summit of the Americas which will take place in Los Angeles. Some see the event as an opportunity for Latin America to boost its international profile, others perceive it as an effort by Joe Biden to revive its influence and put forward an alternative for development in the hemisphere (Hunnicutt et al., 2022). Nevertheless, it will be a regional forum where Latin American and Caribbean countries come together with Central Americans to discuss important issues ranging from post-COVID-19 pandemic recovery, economic insecurity, climate change, migration, and political polarization.
Bringing the theme of “Building a Sustainable, Resilient, and Equitable Future,” this particular summit ironically did not start with a resilient approach. Furthermore, it is increasingly mired with controversy due to the United States’ actions that will not issue invitations to countries it deems to contravene its values. Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela have been excluded from the Summit of the Americas for their undemocratic governments. The move has only backfired, prompting a boycott of the summit, sounded by Mexican President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), who expressed absence and disappointment through his daily press conference. For weeks, AMLO had threatened he would not participate unless all countries were allowed to (Associated Press, 2022). After hearing the announcement, the US Department of State repeatedly tried to convince Mexico to attend the summit through its diplomats in Mexico. However, they did not succeed in quelling the mutiny, where that same evening, other leaders from Bolivia, Honduras, Brazil, Guatemala, and Nicaragua signaled opposition to the US unilateral decision. A few days before the summit, US diplomats received information that Bolivia, Honduras, Mexico, and Guatemala will be represented by a delegation, thus confirming the four leaders’ absence. On the other hand, Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, decided to attend after he was given a one-on-one meeting opportunity with President Joe Biden at the White House.
Latin America itself has been a land of contestation between various political and ideological groups throughout history, starting with Communism which entered Cuba in 1965, liberalism brought to the continent by the US, conservatism during the 2010s, to populism that seems always exist even today. As a region with unique social, cultural, and political characteristics, Latin America is often not considered as crucial compared to other regions by a handful of academics and IR practitioners. Globally, the southern region of America is often excluded from other countries due to its low political significance, economic recession, and polarization that can potentially cause it to disintegrate (Sánchez-Ancochea, 2021). Like the rest of the world, regional organizations also exist in Latin America. While there have been many summits, most of them do not include the US as a member or a participant (Moss. 1994). However, the region eventually saw a brave initiative by the United States, where in December of 1944, President Bill Clinton convened the first Summit of the Americas with the intention of promoting economic growth and integration throughout the whole continent. That specific point in time is the start of US efforts of planting influence throughout South America, which uses this high-level dialogue mechanism as an instrument of its hegemonic system in the hemisphere.
These acts by the US have been considered politically provocative by many. The Summit of the Americas should be a place to accentuate unity over differences, but instead, politicization surrounding the exclusion of certain countries only makes this summit be seen as only ceremonial, considering some of the countries were represented by a high-level official only, not their leaders. Furthermore, the controversy surrounding it makes this conference seen by the public as illegitimate and does not represent Latin America’s interest as a whole. As a result, it will ineffectively tackle other regional issues, especially in the midst of pandemic recovery. Some might say, this will eventually lead to a new regional initiative in Latin America and Caribbean countries outside US hegemony, but who knows? It is up to the US and its allies how to respond to the controversy and maintain influence on the region.
Gracia Ayni Warella is a member of the Research and Development division of FPCI UGM. This article expresses her own views and not necessarily those of FPCI UGM
REFERENSI
Associated Press. (2022, June 6). White House press secretary holds briefing after Mexico’s president confirms he’s skipping Summit of the Americas. PBS NewsHour. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-white-house-press-secretary-karine-jean-pierre-holds-news-briefing-3
Hunnicutt, T., Solomon, D. B., & Spetalnick, M. (2022, June 9). Biden unveils new Latin America economic plan at reboot summit dogged by dissent. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/bidens-plan-pitch-latin-america-reboot-summit-dogged-by-dispute-dissent-2022-06-08/
Moss, A. H. (1994). Introduction: The Summit of the Americas, 1994. Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs, 36(3), i–x. http://www.jstor.org/stable/166523
Sánchez-Ancochea, D. (2021, February 25). Latin America: inequality and political instability have lessons for the rest of the world. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/latin-america-inequality-and-political-instability-have-lessons-for-the-rest-of-the-world-152929
