Biden warns Latin America of China’s “debt trap.”

In front of the leaders of 11 countries, US President Joe Biden pledged to promote green bonds and facilitate the investment of billions of dollars in Latin America, so that the region can “choose” between the United States and the Chinese “debt trap.”

At the White House, Biden received the presidents of Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Canada and Barbados, in addition to the foreign ministers of Mexico and Panama, at the first summit of the Alliance for Peace. The Americas Prosperity Economy (APEP), of which everyone is a part.

“The United States is already the largest source of investment in Latin America and the Caribbean, and we will ensure that our closest neighbors know they can choose between debt trap diplomacy and a high-quality, transparent approach to infrastructure and development,” Biden said. He said.

The United States accuses China, an unavoidable trading partner in the region, of using debt to achieve strategic goals.

To counter Beijing’s growing influence, Biden announced that “the US International Development Finance Corporation and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) are launching a new investment platform to allocate billions of dollars to build sustainable infrastructure” in America.

He did not provide figures, but the money will mainly be directed to “strengthening vital supply chains, modern ports, clean energy networks and digital infrastructure” because they are “essential components” of a “competitive and resilient economy.”

Green bonds

The energy transition and nature protection are also in the sights of Washington, which is committed to cooperating with the Islamic Development Bank, to encourage the creation of a green bond fund, to invest in assets related to the environment, and blue bonds, specialized in preserving oceans and forests. Its ecosystems.

During the summit, which is held every two years, countries addressed one of the key topics at the regional level: supply chains, which have suffered serious interruptions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a final joint statement, the leaders acknowledged that the situation could be repeated, for example, due to the impact of climate change.

Therefore, they propose to make “regional value and supply chains the most competitive, inclusive, sustainable and resilient in the world,” focusing on three sectors: clean energy, medical supplies and semiconductors.

They also want to create a “regional accelerator for entrepreneurs and programs to promote workforce development, in particular, in the digital economy.”

Just before the summit, there was a working breakfast with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

“None of us has a magic wand to increase productivity and generate good jobs and higher wages,” she said, but APEC countries are “well placed” to benefit from the “crowd of friends,” referring to production and supply in geopolitically aligned countries.

Yellen also hopes that countries in the region will benefit from the eventual increase in the IMF’s credit capacity, if it achieves its goal of increasing member states’ quotas.

Immigration

Biden said that America “could become the most economically competitive region in the world.”

But it must overcome challenges such as climate change, income inequality and, above all, illegal immigration, which represent a headache for the Democratic president, who Republicans accuse of not doing enough to stop migration at the border with Mexico.

To achieve this goal, it calls for addressing the crisis by “stabilizing migrant populations” wherever they are, granting them legal status and assistance, and promoting “safe and orderly” migration through programs that allow them to work.

The White House announced in a statement that the United States, Canada, South Korea, Spain, and the Islamic Development Bank will donate a total of 89 million US dollars (435 million Brazilian riyals) to this financial organization’s fund to expand infrastructure and social services for immigrants in the country. Host communities in the region.

The United States has carried out more than two million interceptions of migrants who crossed the border with Mexico without visas since January, numbers that conflict with Biden’s bid for re-election in the 2024 presidential election.

The summit ended “in the spirit of openness and inclusion,” calling on other American countries to join Aviv.