US must shore up democracy in Latin America to counter China's influence in region, Senate hears
The United States must focus on strengthening regional democracy, improving the health sector and bridging the digital divide to counter China's growing influence in Latin America and safeguard US leadership, witnesses said during a Senate hearing Thursday on next month's Summit of the Americas.
Beijing made inroads in Latin America early in the pandemic by distributing surgical masks and other protective equipment.
And despite comprising 8.4 per cent of the global population, Latin America and the Caribbean suffered 28 per cent of the world's recorded deaths as the US fell short in distributing vaccines, regional experts told a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee.
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"We have to prioritise the Americas for public health reasons for sure," said Eric Farnsworth, vice-president of the Council of the Americas, a civic group focused on business and economics. "But also there's a strategic component here with China. It's something that makes sense for us to be doing."
The hearing comes as the administration faces criticism over the June 6-10 meeting, the first time the US has hosted it since the inaugural summit in Miami in 1994.
Washington decided late on this year's host city, has yet to release an agenda with less than two weeks to go, and faces controversy over the guest list.
Washington said it only wanted leaders from democratic countries to attend. This comes as the administration of President Joe Biden increasingly frames foreign policy as a contest between democracy and authoritarianism in a bid to counter China and Russia.
"If the countries don't respect democracy, they aren't invited," Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols told Colombian TV earlier this month.
That stipulation has made it highly unlikely that authoritarian leaders from Venezuela and Nicaragua - allies of Beijing - would participate. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on Twitter Wednesday he would not attend.
In response, Mexico, Bolivia, a few Caribbean nations and Brazil threatened to boycott the event, with news reports Wednesday suggesting Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro decided to attend after all.
US diplomats have scrambled to get Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador back on side, as a regional summit without Mexico taking part would be a major embarrassment for the Biden administration.
Critics have also pointed out that some of the invited regional democracies have less-than-stellar records. Mexico's president has been criticised for ongoing attacks on the media and independent institutions in his country, while Guatemala's leader is accused of meddling in anti-corruption efforts.
Asked on Thursday about the status of various summit invitations, Kevin O'Reilly, the State Department's coordinator for the summit, sidestepped questions, saying civic society representatives from dictator-led governments were encouraged to participate.
Much of the criticism over invitations and boycotts reflects concern by even democratically elected regional leaders that they could be targeted next with allegations of nepotism, corruption and media intimidation, according to Jorge Guajardo, senior director at the consultancy McLarty Associates.
"They think, OK, today Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, but tomorrow it could be Mexico or whatever other country," said Guajardo, a former Mexican ambassador to China. "That's what I think you're seeing."
The summit's apparent lack of planning, preparation or advance diplomacy calls into question repeated claims by US officials that Washington can multitask globally despite the enormous time and money it has spent building coalitions and otherwise countering Russia after Moscow's February 24 invasion of Ukraine.
Witnesses at Thursday's hearing before the Western Hemisphere subcommittee chided the administration for too often ignoring the region as China and Russia make inroads.
Some called on the subcommittee to unveil a new initiative for Latin America similar to the Indo-Pacific Economic Forum trade package announced this week in Asia.
"The region is polarised, Covid-19 has laid bare public health and economic challenges, democracy is in retreat," said Rebecca Bill Chavez, president and CEO of the Inter-American Dialogue. "And global rivals are making their financial and political presence strongly felt."
Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, a long-time critic of Beijing China's Communist Party, said Washington routinely took for granted its neighbours in its own backyard, opening the way for China to pursue policies based on corruption, debt servitude and exploitation.
"We haven't had a strategic vision," said Rubio, adding that countries often approach the US and say: 'Look, we don't want to do investment deals with the Chinese, but they show up with a bunch of money, no strings attached. And you guys offer no alternative.'
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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