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The Summit of the Americas
The eighth Summit of the Americas, which took place last week in Lima, Peru under the theme “Battling Corruption” ended with modest advances in building trust in a region that has been bedeviled by a huge trust deficit.
Initiated in 1994 in Miami, Florida, the Summit of the Americas is a triennial forum to advance dialogue and cooperation among its 35 members of the Western Hemisphere, including the United States and Canada. This was a subdued summit that was the least attended, which raised questions about its future.
U.S. President Donald Trump cancelled what would have been his first trip to Latin America in order to manage the U.S. response to a chemical attack by Syria on its citizens. More than a half-dozen leaders, including Raoul Castro of Cuba and David Granger of Guyana followed suit, some in apparent solidarity with President Maduro of Venezuela, whose invitation was withdrawn.
The Summit of the Americas was established as an institutionalized gathering of heads of member states of the Hemisphere to discuss common policy issues, affirm shared values, and a commitment to make concerted efforts to address the challenges faced by people in the Hemisphere.
It is an important forum for institution building and problem solving. Since its creation, Heads of States have established a vast array of procedures to tackle the problems affecting the region, including the lack of economic growth, unemployment, poverty, environmental sustainability, energy security, discrimination, corruption and crime, among others.
At this year’s Summit, democracy, good governance and corruption were the main issues discussed to the needs and concerns of member states. U.S. Vice-President, Mike Pence, who filled in for President Trump, and many other leaders have vowed to confront systemic corruption at a time when graft scandals continue to plague many governments in the Hemisphere.
Many leaders used the platform to voice their concerns on President Maduro’s plan to hold a presidential election that many foreign governments consider a sham.
At the Summit, Vice-president Pence also tried to drum up support to further isolate Venezuela, which faces mounting U.S. sanctions. At one point, the Summit became a stage for awkward encounters between the United States and Cuba when the latter foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez, chastised Pence for ignoring reality in the region. There was Pence’s warnings to Cuba not to aid the Maduro regime. Several leaders reminded Vice President Pence of Mr. Trump’s profiling of Mexican immigrants as rapists and murderers, his revocation of the Temporary Protective Status granted to immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua, his derogatory remarks toward Haiti and his roll back of President Obama’s initiatives toward the normalization of US-Cuba relations.
While the Summit created the Lima Commitment of Democratic Governance against Corruption, analysts are skeptical that it will lead to any tangible change. The reason is many governments in the region are facing allegations of corruption. For his part, Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge who filled in for Mr. Granger reiterated Guyana’s commitment to combat corruption.
He told the heads of states that Guyana has taken concrete measures to eradicate corruption in all of its forms in an effort to build a prosperous, sustainable and democratic society and that significant progress has been made towards the prevention of Anti-Money Laundering.
The declaration against corruption is an important step forward, but many leaders have lamented that corruption was first tackled at the initial 1994 gathering of the Summit and continues to be a major issue.
More than two decades later, that pledge has not been fulfilled because corruption remains just as entrenched if not more today in many countries throughout the region.
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