On the eve of President Biden’s appearance at the Summit of the Americas on Wednesday, activists and politicians worked to make their voices heard above the logistical hoopla, even when it meant going off script.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, completing a round of speeches, addressed a symposium for journalism students to defend press freedom. But he quickly found himself answering difficult questions, such as why the United States deals with governments that allegedly kill journalists while convicting others.
Blinken delivered his measured comments on the importance of a free press and highlighted how dangerous it is for journalists in the Americas, where they are often killed without being in a war zone.
He named a pair of journalists killed in Mexico, where a dozen have been killed this year, and praised others in Honduras, El Salvador and other parts of Central America who have worked to expose corruption and then been jailed or forced to flee. .
“Today, the right to freedom of expression, including freedom of the press, faces profound challenges in our hemisphere and around the world,” Blinken said. “Challenges that, if not addressed, could threaten the very foundations of our democracies.”
He cited misinformation that polarizes and poisons societies and said the US government would spend more than $30 million to help maintain press freedom in the Americas. He also said that politicians and leaders had to be prepared for the scrutiny, before audience members started shouting questions at him.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, center, participates in a panel discussion titled “A Commitment to Journalistic Freedom” with journalists Marcella Baietto, left, and Madison Thomas on Tuesday.
(Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press)
A man, who later identified himself as a reporter, questioned why a country like Haiti, with a de facto government whose members may have been involved in the recent assassination of its prime minister, could be included in the summit. (The United States excluded Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela from the guest list, citing the anti-democratic tendencies of their leaders, but included Haiti, El Salvador, and Brazil.)
Blinken didn’t seem nervous. “In Haiti, we continue to work for a transition,” he said.
A woman has stood up to challenge US support for Israel and Saudi Arabia, two governments involved in the recent killings of journalists.
In one case, a well-known Palestinian American journalist was shot dead during an Israeli raid on a West Bank town; the case has not been solved, but some Palestinians blame Israel for the murder.
In the other case, a prominent Saudi journalist and US resident, Jamal Khashoggi, was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and US intelligence officials concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing. The Biden administration condemned the 2018 assassination but now plans to renew ties with the desert kingdom.
The fireworks at the media event, held in the historic building that once housed the Los Angeles Herald Examiner newspaper, were a bit odd in a series of fairly tame talks and meetings so far at this first Summit of the Americas It will take place on US soil since its inaugural session in 1994. The key pieces of the summit begin on Wednesday with the arrival of Biden, along with the presence of some twenty leaders from the region.
Also Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris, on a visit to her home state, held a series of events aimed at highlighting female economic empowerment in northern Central America and showcasing the progress she has made in stemming migration from the region, a high-profile task she was tasked with last year.
He announced nearly $2 billion in new private investments in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, totaling about $3.2 billion in corporate commitments for investments in the region since the initiative began last year.
Vice President Kamala Harris is hosting a panel discussion on Tuesday.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
“When you raise the economic status of women, you raise the economic status of families, their communities and the entire hemisphere,” she said during an event on the sidelines of the summit.
There, she announced a women’s empowerment program to connect 1.4 million women to the financial system and the digital economy, and a program to train 500,000 women and girls in job skills.
Harris also announced the launch of a $50 million Central American Service Corps, funded by the US Agency for International Development, to create paid community service jobs for youth.
The initiatives are a key part of the Biden administration’s plan to address the root causes of migration from northern Central America to slow the pace of migration and encourage people to stay home by creating better living conditions and economic opportunities in the region.
Biden is also expected to present foreign leaders with a new economic plan to mobilize investment in the region, a senior administration official told reporters earlier this week.
Reference-www.latimes.com