2022 Summit of the Americas

INSIGHTi

2022 Summit of the Americas
Updated June 24, 2022
The United States hosted the Ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles on June 6-10, 2022. The
Summits of the Americas, held roughly every three years since 1994, serve as opportunities for the
Western Hemisphere’s heads of government to engage directly with one another and address issues of
collective concern. The official theme of the summit was “Building a Sustainable, Resilient, and
Equitable Future.” However, much of the media attention in the lead-up to the meeting focused on which
leaders would attend. As the summit was about to start, the Biden Administration announced the
authoritarian governments of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela would be excluded, leading Mexico and a
few other countries to send lower-level delegations and St. Vincent and the Grenadines to boycott the
meeting. Ultimately, 23 of the hemisphere’s 35 heads of government participated in the summit, along
with representatives of eight other countries. Three official stakeholder forums occurred alongside the
summit, bringing together civil society, youth, and private sector representatives to discuss regional
challenges and interact with the assembled leaders.
Many in Congress have expressed interest in the Los Angeles summit and in efforts to strengthen
hemispheric ties. The Senate adopted a resolution (S.Res. 120) recognizing the summit and reaffirming
the U.S. commitment to the hemisphere; the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing to assess
the prospects for enhanced cooperation; and Members of both houses, including the Speaker, traveled to
Los Angeles to observe the proceedings and meet with regional leaders. Some Members also introduced
measures in advance of the summit that would seek to enhance economic ties (S.Res. 661 and H.R. 7935),
support democratic governance (S. 4285), and increase energy security (H.R. 7934) in the hemisphere.
Moving forward, Congress may consider those measures and/or other legislation, including
appropriations, to support the multilateral commitments and U.S. policy initiatives announced in Los
Angeles.
Summit Outcomes
The heads of government attending the summit approved five official political commitments related to
health, climate change, clean energy, digital transformation, and democratic governance. In addition to
signing onto those commitments, the Biden Administration negotiated a side agreement on migration and
announced a number of other policy initiatives, some of which lacked details or funding mechanisms.
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Pandemic Response and Recovery
The heads of government attending the summit agreed to develop an Action Plan on Health and
Resilience in the Americas, which is to be implemented by 2030. The action plan is intended to
address the effects of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and strengthen the
capacity and resilience of the region’s health systems to address future infectious disease
outbreaks and other health challenges. The Biden Administration announced several initiatives to
support implementation of the action plan, including the Americas Health Corps—a partnership
with the Pan American Health Organization to provide training to 500,000 health workers in
Latin America and the Caribbean over the next five years. The Administration also intends to
expand global health security programs in the region with funds included in its FY2023 foreign
assistance budget request.
To address the economic impact of the pandemic, President Biden announced a new Americas
Partnership for Economic Prosperity. Under the new framework, the Administration intends to
engage with partners in the hemisphere on efforts to reinvigorate the Inter-American
Development Bank and other regional economic organizations to mobilize increased investment,
establish more resilient supply chains, improve economic and social inclusion, and facilitate
regional trade while advancing labor and environmental standards. The Administration also
announced new commitments to address rising levels of food insecurity in the region, including
$331 million of humanitarian assistance and a joint declaration with the hemisphere’s top
agricultural producers pledging to take action to maximize food supplies.
Climate Action
In Los Angeles, the hemisphere’s leaders agreed to undertake various domestic and cooperative actions to
combat climate change by conserving and restoring ecosystems and accelerating the transition to
renewable energy. However, the final commitments lacked many of the more concrete goals outlined in
the original drafts, such as developing national plans to achieve net-zero deforestation by 2030 or ending
public financing for new unabated coal power generation by the end of 2022. The Biden Administration
announced several measures to support the region’s climate adaptation and mitigation efforts, including a
new U.S.-Caribbean Partnership to Address the Climate Crisis 2030 (PACC 2030). The PACC 2030
initiative seeks to strengthen energy security and promote climate resilience in the region by improving
access to development financing, facilitating clean energy project development, enhancing local capacity,
and deepening U.S. collaboration with Caribbean partners.
Democracy Promotion
The Inter-American Action Plan on Democratic Governance, adopted at the summit, includes a range of
commitments to promote democracy, good governance, and human rights in the region. Many of the more
ambitious elements of the original draft—such as commitments to provide standing invitations for
Organization of American States electoral observation missions and to establish a regional mechanism to
evaluate emerging threats to democracy—were not included in the final action plan. The Administration
intends to support implementation of the action plan with ongoing foreign assistance programs as well as
some new commitments, including $42 million to protect and defend civic space in Central America and
$75 million over three years (contingent on congressional appropriations) to support 300 community-
based civil society organizations across the hemisphere.

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Migration Management
In addition to concluding the formal summit commitments, the Administration negotiated the Los Angeles
Declaration for Migration and Protection with 20 other Western Hemisphere countries. The declaration
recognizes irregular migration management as a shared responsibility and seeks to bolster regional efforts
to improve border controls, create legal migration and protection pathways, support migrants and host
communities, and coordinate responses to mass migration movements. To those ends, several of the
signatory countries announced commitments to regularize certain unauthorized populations and to
implement or expand temporary worker programs. The Administration announced $314 million of
humanitarian assistance to support vulnerable migrants, a commitment to resettle 20,000 refugees from
the region in FY2023-FY2024, and the resumption of family reunification parole programs for Haitians
and Cubans, among other measures.

Author Information

Peter J. Meyer

Specialist in Latin American and Canadian Affairs




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