AFP | 2023-11-06

WASHINGTON -- US President Joe Biden called on November 3 for Latin America to choose democratic, transparent investment over "debt-trap diplomacy" as he welcomed 11 countries from a region where China has made inroads.

With free-trade deals falling out of favor in Washington, Biden is promoting the "Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity," which focuses instead on encouraging business and reorienting supply chains away from China.

Welcoming leaders to the White House, Biden called for a region that is "secure, prosperous and democratic, from Canada's northernmost reaches to the southern tip of Chile."

In a veiled but clear criticism of China, Biden said that Latin America has "a real choice between debt-trap diplomacy and high-quality, transparent approaches to infrastructure and to development."

China has free-trade agreements with four countries participating in Biden's summit and has poured billions of dollars of investment into infrastructure in Latin America, but often through lending that nations must repay at unfavorable rates.

Biden said that the United States was rolling out a new investment platform that would support what he said could be billions of dollars in private-sector investment in "sustainable" infrastructure.

Biden said that the United States hoped to make the Western Hemisphere "the most economically competitive region in the world."

"I think it's totally within our reach," he said.

Biden announced a program, based in Uruguay and also backed by Canada, to support start-up entrepreneurs in Latin America.

He also said that the United States with the Inter-American Development Bank would promote green bonds, along the lines of Ecuador's initiative to sell debt to protect nature in the fragile Galapagos Islands.

"The United States is pursuing an approach I've called 'friendshoring': diversifying our supply chains across a wide range of trusted partners and allies," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told a meeting as part of the summit.

"We believe that APEP [Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity] countries are well-positioned to take the actions needed to benefit from friendshoring in our region," she said.

Focus on Democratic allies

The economic initiative prioritizes democracies, with the leaders of Barbados, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay joining at the White House.

Mexico and Panama are also part of the partnership but were represented at a lower level.

Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo is a close US ally but could not attend due to a national holiday at home.

In recent years China -- seen by the United States as its foremost global competitor -- has targeted Latin America as part of its global quest for natural resources, with 21 regional countries joining China's decade-old infrastructure-spending blitz known as the Belt and Road Initiative.