14 April 2009
Obama Heads to Mexico, Summit of the Americas April 16–19
Washington — The United States believes attendance at the Summit of the Americas is part of a process of re-engaging with the Western Hemisphere, a senior U.S. diplomat says.
It is not a one-time event, Ambassador Jeffrey Davidow said in an April 13 teleconference on the president’s trip.
“The perception coming up from the South [is] that in recent years the United States has turned its attention elsewhere, has neglected its relationships in this part of the world,” Davidow said.
“Whether one agrees with that perception or not, it certainly is a very strongly felt perception, which ... the president has been counteracting since even before he took office.”
The 2009 Summit of the Americas is being held in Port of Spain, the capital city of the island nation Trinidad and Tobago, April 17–19. The president begins his trip with an April 16 stop in Mexico City for consultations with Mexican President Felipe Calderón.
The 34 democratically elected leaders in the Western Hemisphere will attend the three-day summit. Cuba will not attend. This is the fifth summit, though there have also been special summits held periodically since it began in Miami in 1994 during the Clinton administration.
It is the first time President Obama has met with several leaders of the Western Hemisphere at one time. He has held separate meetings with Calderón, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva. The four leaders also attended the G20 Financial Summit held earlier in April in London.
The Summit of the Americas faces three baskets of shared challenges, though by tradition there will be an array of political, economic and social issues on the agenda, said Daniel Restrepo, a National Security Council deputy adviser and director for Western Hemisphere affairs.
“One ... is the economic crisis and how do we rekindle economic growth and ensure that that growth is equitable economic growth, that no segments of society are left behind as the hemisphere recovers from the current economic crisis,” Restrepo said at the White House briefing.
The second is the challenge of energy security and global warming. And the third significant issue is public safety, he said.
“At the end of the day, it is quite clear that there are shared responsibilities in the hemisphere. The United States is stepping up to do its part on these three areas,” Restrepo said.
On the separate Mexico visit, Restrepo said the president understands the challenges presented by the flow of illegal weapons from the United States into Mexico. The president has directed the departments of Justice and Homeland Security to step up law enforcement capacity to confront the flow of weapons and the violence along the border that is caused by drug trafficking cartels.
Denis McDonough, deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, said the president is stopping in Mexico City first to send a clear message that the United States supports Mexico and Calderón’s efforts to confront the drug-related violence and power of criminal organizations.
“It’s designed to send a very clear signal to our friends in Mexico City that we have a series of shared challenges as it relates to the economy, as it relates to security, insecurity, the threat of violence, and the impact of drug trafficking on both our countries,” McDonough said.
In addition, McDonough said Obama will discuss concrete goals in the U.S.-Mexico bilateral relationship, including energy security and global warming.
The White House advisers said there are significant other issues to be addressed during the Summit of the Americas, including remittances, education, human prosperity and poverty eradication. Obama will conduct bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the meetings, though a specific schedule has not been announced.
Since the Obama administration began in January, in addition to meetings the president has held, Vice President Biden traveled to Chile and Costa Rica for consultations with South American and Central American leaders in March. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled to Mexico, as did Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder.
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