Students receive an F for not turning in their assigned homework. The failing grade is for not doing what was expected of them, for which most violators don’t care one way or the other. Former Mexican foreign minister Jorge Castaneda is eyeing Joe Biden’s failure to do his in much the same way.
Castaneda, who now teaches at Syracuse University, was remarking about Biden’s invitation list for the Summit of Americas conference scheduled to take place in Los Angeles, when he said, “The real question is why the Biden administration didn’t do its homework.”
Among other leaders invited to the shindig, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is threatening to be a no-show. He and the others are miffed over Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela, being excluded from the roster of attendees.
Biden’s even catching flack from progressives within his own party for his fumble. They say it’s all politics as usual. Biden needs increased support in the swing state of Florida so bowing to the wishes of Hispanic refugees and immigrants in the state should do the trick.
Biden could come out of this with even more egg dripping off his face as more of the invited nations start leaning Mexico’s way. They especially want to see Cuba represented after it’s attended the last two summits.
Casteneda said the Biden administration has made it crystal clear how Latin America is not on their priority list. Biden is due to outline his plans for a “sustainable, resilient, and equitable future” for the entire hemisphere, which includes the three omitted nations.
Casteneda was quick to add, “This ambitious agenda, no one knows exactly what it is, other than a series of bromides.”
The summit is meant to gather support for a wide-stretching trade agreement from Patagonia to Alaska and all points in between. Once again, with several exceptions that still have products and need products, regardless of their form of government. It’s called economics and it should be all the rage.
The U.S. hasn’t hosted the event since 1994, in Miami, where the first summit took place. Since then, they’ve always been productive and without issue outside of the leaders screaming and taking pot shots at one another. Then came Biden…
It was Obama who first invited Cuba to the summit in 2015 that was held in Panama. Doing so relieved a great deal of tension among leaders who felt the communist country should have been invited all along.
Deputy national security advisor during Obama’s reign of terror, Ben Rhodes, said, “It’s a huge missed opportunity,” to leave Cuba out.
He said that because of the Biden administration’s foolish move, “We are isolating ourselves by taking that step because you’ve got Mexico, you’ve got Caribbean countries saying they’re not going to come – which is only going to make Cuba look stronger than us.”
Biden and Kamala Harris have been burning up the phone lines trying to get countries to RSVP. They started with Argentina and Honduras, both of which have expressed reluctance in attending.
Former Senator Christopher Dodd has been trying to railroad Brazilian President Jair Bolosonaro into making the journey but isn’t having much luck. Biden hasn’t once spoken with Bolsonaro who was a strong ally of Donald Trump.
This might be the last year for the summit, or it could be that the U.S. just won’t get invited in the future. Trade is trade, and all countries concerned should attend the summit, politics aside.
How many cigar smokers reading this would jump at the chance to snip the end off of a genuine hand-rolled Havana and still be allowed to dislike its government?
