BSS :
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday urged leaders of the Americas to prove that democracy works as he laid out plans to boost economic cooperation and improve health and food access in a region where China has been making growing inroads.
Welcoming leaders to Los Angeles to the Summit of the Americas, Biden acknowledged differences — with Mexico’s leader refusing to come — but made an impassioned plea for democracy as the best way forward.
“When democracy is under assault around the world, let us unite again and renew our conviction that democracy is not only the defining feature,” Biden said, “but the essential ingredient to the Americas’ future.”
“At this summit, we have an opportunity for us to come together around some bold ideas, ambitious actions, and to demonstrate to our people the incredible power of democracy,” Biden said.
In a theater that plays host to the Emmys, delegations snacking on popcorn watched a choreographed dance routine by Emilio Estefan and a rendition of The Beatles’ “Come Together” by Sheila E.
Biden laid out a new regionwide economic plan that was large on ideas but short on commitments, with no promises of further market access or funding.
In an echo of US political debates, Biden said that the United States was looking for economic growth “from the bottom up and the middle out and not the top down.” “What was true in the United States is true in every country — ‘trickle-down economics’ does not work,” he said to applause.
In an implicit contrast to Beijing, Biden’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, said the United States was worried less about flashy announcements than about supporting more inclusive growth.
“The United States has never seen its comparative advantages in the world as just leveraging huge numbers of state dollars, but rather leveraging all of the tools available to us,” he told reporters on Air Force One.
Biden announced $300 million in assistance to address the region’s food insecurity, which has been on the rise as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupts grain exports.
The White House also announced a new Americas Health Corps that aims to improve the skills of 500,000 health workers across the region, building on the lessons from Covid-19, which hit the Western Hemisphere especially hard.
