US-Summit of Americas -- WEB
Metadata
- US-Summit of Americas -- WEB
- June 7, 2022
- Content Type Package
- Language English
- Transcript/Script US-Summit of Americas HEADLINE: White House Confident Ahead of Americas Summit Despite Mexico Boycott TEASER: White House says summit of American states will make progress despite boycotts by Mexican president and others over refusal to invite Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela PUBLISHED AT:06/06/2022 at 8:57 pm BYLINE: Anita Powell CONTRIBUTOR: Jorge Agobian DATELINE: the White House VIDEOGRAPHER: AP, AFP, archive, ZOOM with license VIDEO EDITOR: SCRIPT EDITORS: MPage, Mia Bush SR VIDEO SOURCE (S): PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __ TRT: 2:47 pm VID APPROVED BY: mia TYPE: EDITOR NOTES:)) ((INTRO)) [[This year’s Summit of the Americas starts this week in Los Angeles, but leaders of several key nations are boycotting as the U.S. did not invite the leaders of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, saying that only democracies deserve to be included. Threats of no-shows by the leaders of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and others raise concerns about U.S. leadership in its own region. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from the White House.]] ((Sequence of family photo of most recent summit, 2018: AFP-V000_VID1169533_EN)) ((NARRATION)) The Summit of the Americas is an ad-hoc gathering of 34 Western Hemisphere nations to discuss shared issues. ((Library footage here: https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapp.frame.io%2Fprojects%2Fae30dd8f-b6c4-418a-b02d-530603115a58%2Fa955ae96-a584-4b12-a53b-dc0b999ba3e1&data=05%7C01%7Capowell%40voanews.com%7Ce34e857a604749d3 5c7b08da47bcdaad%7Cba99e87c673541c2b1c1354eee3a8659%7C0%7C0%7C637901173689128105%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=51mDdbhN3LFQk5OT%2FORYcyb6fSZtDxSpMYXv0B9WPp4%3D&reserved=0)) U.S. presidents have used this summit to press for major change – from Bill Clinton’s North American Free Trade Agreement, finalized at the 1994 summit, to Barack Obama’s decision to reopen relations with Cuba, at the 2015 gathering. ((AMLO at a recent event: AFP-V000_32BM8BL)) Mexico’s president confirmed Monday that he will not attend over the U.S. decision not to invite Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. ((Establish Karine from briefing TODAY)) White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says the summit will still make progress in key areas such as economic issues, public health, climate change, food insecurity and migration. ((SOT, requested from MRT, find it here: https://app.frame.io/projects/107d8a33-963a-48f0-9001-585725df7d34/480c15c1-d71f-48bf-8cce-e7731108e1fd)) ((Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary)) “You can expect to see deliverables in those areas announced by the president and other members of his Cabinet in all three days relating to those focus areas.” ((AMLO in Cuba AFP-V000_329Q46K; AFP-V000_32BB2CT)) ((NARRATION)) She added that the administration had a “candid engagement” with Mexico’s president over his opposition, but that the White House stands firm in their conviction. ((SOT, requested from MRT, find it here: https://app.frame.io/projects/107d8a33-963a-48f0-9001-585725df7d34/480c15c1-d71f-48bf-8cce-e7731108e1fd)) ((Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary)) "The president's principled position is that we do not believe that dictators should be invited." ((Broll of summit setup in LA: AP-4383075)) ((NARRATION)) Analysts say the attendance drama is about more than politics. The lack of a clear agenda is also an issue. ((Radio: Ryan Berg is with the Center for Strategic and International Studies)) ((SOT, English, Zoom with license from 4:39)) ((Ryan Berg, CSIS)) “If the agenda was such that it was so attractive that presidents couldn't defect and not be present, then we wouldn't see this kind of political theater in the hemisphere, in my opinion. The lack of robust agenda is really what opened the door to this kind of political theatrics.” ((BEGIN OPT)) ((Establish alternative summit, AFP-V000_32BA3GX)) ((NARRATION)) Some nations met with Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela for an alternative summit last week, where they minced no words: ((Radio: Bolivian President Luis Arce:)) ((SOT, Spanish, AFP-V000_32BB4YX)) ((Luis Arce, President of Bolivia)) “We strongly reject the exclusion of brother countries from the ninth Summit of the Americas. I reiterate my decision not to attend this meeting until all the governments of Americas countries are invited." ((END OPT)) ((Protests at Lima summit: AFP-V000_VID1168693_EN)) ((NARRATION)) Others say the boycotts may not amount to much, as high-level delegates will represent some of the absent heads of state. ((Radio: Guillermo Zubillaga leads the Venezuela Working Group at the Americas Society/Council of the Americas)) ((SOT, English, ZOOM from 8:17 in track: vid here: https://app.frame.io/projects/ae30dd8f-b6c4-418a-b02d-530603115a58/0b75af8e-7a48-4482-800a-a8ae97f0b935)) ((Guillermo Zubillaga, Council of the Americas)) “They can get a lot done without these three countries present. And I think this is a summit that seeks to highlight the importance of democracy and the democratic values in a region that has historically embraced those at a moment when the region is facing incredible challenges in regards to democracy and rising authoritarianism.” ((leaders arriving at 2018 summit: AFP-V000_VID1169189_EN)) ((NARRATION)) And, Berg says, the summit is not the final word. ((SOT, English, Zoom with license, from 5:11 in track https://app.frame.io/projects/ae30dd8f-b6c4-418a-b02d-530603115a58/0b75af8e-7a48-4482-800a-a8ae97f0b935)) ((Ryan Berg, CSIS)) “If there are one or two major resolutions that come out of this summit, that will be a great win. The other thing that I think we need to realize is that Summits of the Americas, especially in past years, have not managed to produce huge hemisphere-wide agreements – that the hemisphere is just too fragmented for those kinds of large geopolitical kinds of resolutions.” ((Biden disembarks Marine 1 after Asia trip, at White House: AP-4381366)) ((NARRATION)) Whatever happens, one man says he’s in: Biden arrives in L.A. on Wednesday to formally open the first U.S.-hosted summit since 1994. ((Anita Powell, VOA News, the White House))
- NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
- Network VOA
- Location (dateline) the White House
- Embargo Date June 6, 2022 21:26 EDT
- Byline ((Anita Powell, VOA News, the White House))
- Brand / Language Service Voice of America - English