(CNN)Months of effort by President Joe Biden and other top officials to persuade Mexico's President to attend this week's regional leaders' conference in Los Angeles were deemed unsuccessful.
Now, significant Central American countries are following President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's lead and sending just lower-level representatives rather than their leaders. By the time Biden arrives at the summit on Wednesday, doubts about the event's invitation list and attendees will have clouded the event's greater objective, causing annoyance among administration officials who weren't expecting the snafu.
The decision by numerous countries to boycott the conference in southern California, in protest of Biden's refusal to admit three regional autocrats, has highlighted the effort to assert US influence in a region that has grown politically fragmented and economically hurting.
It has also revealed the challenges and inconsistencies in Biden's pledge to restore democratic norms to American foreign policy. Despite his opposition to bringing tyrants to a summit on US soil, which has sparked outrage and boycotts from key regional allies, his advisors are organizing a trip to Saudi Arabia, which is considered as a necessity in the midst of a global energy crisis, despite the kingdom's poor human rights record. Though Biden had claimed the monarchy should be made a "pariah," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that it is a "essential partner."
In the end, the White House confirmed Tuesday that 23 heads of state will attend the Summit of the Americas this week, which administration officials noted was consistent with previous summits. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who had been on the fence, will attend and meet Biden for the first time.
The omissions of the presidents of Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala are remarkable, though, because the US has attempted to nurture those countries as immigration allies, a topic that has become a political problem for Biden.Officials from the Obama administration rejected worries about the summit's attendance on Monday, saying they don't believe lower-level delegates from specific countries will affect the outcome.
"We truly believe that participation will not be an impediment to getting important business done during the summit. In fact, we are really pleased with how the deliverables are shaping out, as well as the commitment of other countries to them "The commitments will range from short to long term, according to a senior administration official.
The White House also emphasized that the President was adamant that the dictatorial leaders of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua should not be invited, even if it meant escalating tensions with other countries in the area.
"Finally, in response to your question, we simply do not feel tyrants should be invited. We are unconcerned about this, and the President will stick to his principles "Jean-Pierre expressed his thoughts.For months, problems have been looming.
According to officials, Biden, who lands in Los Angeles on Wednesday, will unveil a new collaboration with Western Hemisphere countries during the gathering as part of a larger attempt to stabilize the region.
He and his team have been planning the meeting since last August, when it was initially announced. In January, the city of Los Angeles was chosen as the site. Former Senator Chris Dodd, Biden's friend and former Senate Foreign Relations Committee colleague, has been selected as the event's special adviser.
Dodd was one of a number of government envoys to Central and South America, including Vice President Kamala Harris and even first lady Jill Biden, who visited to the region to drum up support. However, as the summit drew nearer, it became clear that an event meant to reaffirm American leadership in the area was facing significant challenges.
For weeks leading up to the meeting, López Obrador intimated that he might boycott unless all regional leaders were invited, including those from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, all of which have faced US resistance over their human rights records. Other politicians, mostly on the left, have indicated that if not everyone is invited, they will not go.
Officials in the Obama administration privately doubted that those leaders would carry out their threats, implying that they were merely attempts to appeal to domestic audiences who are generally distrustful of the US.
Biden and López Obrador discussed the summit during a phone call in April. The men "looking forward to meeting again during the June Summit of the Americas," according to a readout from the White House, indicating that the administration expected the Mexican president to attend at the time.
Dodd has spent the last few weeks on the phone with López Obrador, pleading with him to drop his boycott threat. Members of Congress, including Democratic Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez, began publicly protesting the invitation of leaders from Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. Officials in the administration became more frustrated as doubts about the invites and attendees clouded the summit's intended purpose.
"The most serious issue is that the emphasis on attendance diverts attention away from substance, which is to be expected when a summit approaches. It's similar to the period when sausages were made. Because the summit hasn't started yet, we don't discuss much about the content; instead, we talk about who might attend "Roberta Jacobson, a former US ambassador to Mexico who also served as Biden's southern border policy coordinator, stated as much.
The weeks of conjecture came to an end in the end — but not in the way the White House had intended.
"A Summit of the Americas cannot be held until all of the Americas' countries are represented," López Obrador declared at a press conference in Mexico City. "This is a continuation of the old interventionist policies of disregard for nations and their people."Mexican officials had informed the White House of their President's decision in advance, and Biden was informed before the news became public, according to officials. Biden and López Obrador will meet next month in Washington, rather than during the summit.
A senior administration source stated, "The fact that they differ on this topic is now quite evident."
Officials tried to stress that the boycott was based on a specific disagreement over the invite list and not a bigger schism.
"What we've done in recent weeks, going back over a month now, is consulted — communicated with our allies and friends in the region so that we knew the outlines of their views," said a senior administration official. "In the end, the President concluded, and he emphasized this point repeatedly in all of our contacts… that the best purpose of this summit is to bring together countries that share a set of democratic principles."
Following a succession of foreign policy disasters elsewhere in the world, including the tumultuous exit from Afghanistan and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Biden is focusing on the Americas. End of last month, he returned from his first trip to Asia.
That is a region where his animating message of "autocracy versus democracy" is being played out in real time, as China seeks to gain ground and economically disadvantaged countries seek assistance from abroad.
Biden will unveil the "Americas partnership" in his opening remarks on Wednesday, which will focus on five issues, including economic recovery, mobilizing investments, supply chains, clean energy, and trade, all in the hopes of strengthening US partnerships in a region that many US leaders have been accused of ignoring.
Biden is anticipated to unveil more than $300 million in aid to combat food hunger, as well as additional private sector pledges, health programs, and a climate resilience alliance, during the summit.
The caravan emphasizes the importance of completing migration projects quickly.
The need of making progress on immigration was vividly demonstrated in southern Mexico as the summit got underway. A fresh migrant caravan set off on foot on Monday, timed to coincide with world leaders meeting in Los Angeles to raise awareness about the crisis.
A group of roughly 2,300 people departed the southern Mexican city of Tapachula on Monday, according to a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman. The gang is largely made up of Venezuelans, but it also includes migrants from Nicaragua, Cuba, El Salvador, and Honduras, according to the official.
In a bulletin, the Colectivo de Observación y Monitoreo of Derechos Humanos in el SE Mexicano claimed the group was primarily made up of families and children who "demand access to migratory procedures and decent treatment by the authorities." Tapachula, directly across the Guatemalan border, is a common stopover for Central American migrants.
Migrants and asylum seekers are frequently forced to wait for months in areas with little job options under Mexican immigration restrictions. In the last year, migrant caravans have left Tapachula on a regular basis, but this week's appears to be the largest. This caravan organized in part to protest immigration rules, and if they all make it to the US southern border, it will take weeks.
During their Friday meetings in Los Angeles, Biden and other leaders are expected to agree on a new migration document known as the Los Angeles Declaration. Its purpose is to define how governments in the area and around the world should share responsibilities for migrant reception.
Mexico was expected to sign on, according to officials.
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