U.S. officials have spent weeks negotiating with the Mexican government in an attempt to lure President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to the summit. Credit … Luis Antonio Rojas for The New York Times
LOS ANGELES – On the eve of the North and South American summit, the Biden administration struggled to avoid embarrassment from a boycott of key leaders – only to find that its initiatives were rejected.
U.S. officials have spent weeks in talks with the Mexican government trying to find a way to lure President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to a meeting in Los Angeles. Vice President Kamala Harris called the Honduran leader to persuade her to come. The best aides were sent to try to persuade the leaders of El Salvador and Guatemala.
Nothing worked. The heads of state of all four countries refused to attend the meeting, which was a blow to Mr Biden at a time when he was trying to project unity and a common goal in the Western Hemisphere.
The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, will not even be in touch with Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken, according to four people familiar with outreach who were not authorized to speak in public.
The absences called into question the appropriateness of the summit, which was supposed to demonstrate co-operation between neighbors but instead sparked noisy rifts in a region that is increasingly opposed to US leadership.
“This shows the deep divisions on the continent,” said Martha Barcena, a former Mexican ambassador to the United States. Leaders who chose not to attend, Barsena said, “are challenging US influence because US influence on the continent is waning.”
The Biden administration said much could be achieved without table presidents, as foreign ministers sent in their place are just as capable of signing agreements.
“The United States remains the most powerful force in the hemisphere to address the major challenges facing the people of America,” White House spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre said Monday.
Yet while non-appearances in the region are being boycotted for various reasons, they all seem to be expressing dissatisfaction with the way the administration is running the government.
Mr Lopez Obrador telegraphed for weeks that he would not be present unless the administration invited Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. Honduran left-wing president Xiomara Castro has joined him, saying she will also bow unless the meeting includes those countries.
Leaving them out of the summit, Mr Lopez Obrador said, “means continuing with the politics of the past, of interventionism, of the lack of respect for nations and their people”.
The leaders of Guatemala and El Salvador seemed more concerned with their own understanding with the United States than with the guest list.
After taking office, the Biden administration launched an offensive against corruption in both countries, sanctioning high-ranking officials and calling for the efforts of the two Central American governments to weaken democratic institutions.
Guatemalan President Alejandro Giamatti said he would not attend the summit a day after Mr Blinken said his government’s election as attorney general was involved in “significant corruption”.
“I have announced that I will not go,” Mr Giammattei said, adding: “As long as I am president, this country will be respected and its sovereignty will be respected.”
Mr Bukele has not made his thoughts public, but people familiar with El Salvador’s thinking say he did not see the point in shaking hands and taking pictures when dialogue between the two countries was so fundamentally disrupted.
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