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Transcript/ScriptUS Summit of the Americas Harris TV
HEADLINE: Kamala Harris Announces Private Aid Package for Central America
TEASER: VP addresses migration, economic development at Americas Summit mired in controversy
PUBLISHED AT: 06/08/2022 at
BYLINE: Mike O’Sullivan
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Los Angeles
VIDEOGRAPHER:
VIDEO EDITOR: Mike O’Sullivan
SCRIPT EDITORS: Mia Bush, Jepsen
VIDEO SOURCE (S): AFP, AP, Reuters, POOL,
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _x_ RADIO __
TRT:
VID APPROVED BY:
TYPE:
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRODUCTION))
[[U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has announced $3.2 billion in private sector investment in Central America as part of an effort to improve the economy and address the large-scale migration out of the region. Mike O’Sullivan reports from Los Angeles, where Harris is taking part in the Summit of the Americas.]]
((SHOW POOOL VIDEO OF HARRIS IN BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE))
((NARRRATOR))
Meeting with business executives and female entrepreneurs, Harris said the aid effort targets women through the expansion of internet service and digital payment systems and other measures in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
((SHOW REUTERS CLIP OF OUTSIDE OF CONVENTION CENTER))
She spoke Tuesday, the day before President Joe Biden formally opens the summit.
((Vice President Kamala Harris))
“A forward-looking vision for the region requires understanding that women are drivers of economic growth.”
((SHOW AP CLIP OF BANNERS WITH NATION NAMES))
((NARRATOR))
But this meeting of heads of state from the Western Hemisphere has been mired in controversy. The host, the United States, excluded Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, saying this should be a summit of democratic nations.
((SHOW AP CLIP OF LOPEZ OBRADOR))
So Mexico’s president did not attend, along with several other leaders from the region.
((SHOW REUTERS VIDEO OF EBRARD NEWS CONFERENCE, AUDIO DOWN))
In a newspaper column Tuesday, Mexico’s foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, accused the United States of a double standard, saying it engages with non-democratic leaders when it wants to.
But he told reporters, the two nations are still speaking.
((Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico Foreign Minister)) ((Speaking Spanish)) ((REUTERS))
“I would say that our bilateral relationship with the United States is really good, it’s very vast and it’s a relationship where we've got clear areas. (Mexican) President (Andres Manuel) Lopez Obrador has an invitation from (U.S.) President (Joe) Biden to visit Washington in July.”
((SHOW AP CLIP OF MIGRANTS IN SOUTHERN MEXICO))
((NARRATOR))
Where he says the leaders will discuss issues of mutual concern, including migration.
That’s an issue Harris has been asked to address. She has made two short trips to Latin America. That’s good, an analyst says, but there needs to be more engagement.
((Radio: Gaspar Rivera-Salgado is director of the UCLA Center for Mexican Studies.)) [[Mike – voice this however it makes sense to you and then we can tweak the script later]]
((Gaspar Rivera-Salgado, UCLA Center for Mexican Studies)) ((Reuters))
“We need more direct action in that way. So I think the summit could be the beginning, could be the beginning of a shift in priorities in the Americas.”
((SHOW AFP CLIP OF YOUNG MEN IN CENTRAL AMERICA))
((NARRATOR))
Recent U.S. administrations have not paid enough attention to Latin America, says a former U.S. ambassador to Venezuela, who spoke by Skype.
((FOR RADIO: Patrick Duddy of Duke University))
((Patrick Duddy, Duke University)) ((MANDATORY CG: Skype))
“Really, it started in the Obama administration but much more vocally in the Trump administration, as American leaders began to publicly reassess what our role in the world should be, I think Latin America often was left out.”
((SHOW REUTERS VIDEO OF CONFERENCE CENTER))
((NARRATOR))
He says that despite the controversies, this summit offers the Biden administration a chance to reverse that.
((Mike O’Sullivan, VOA News, Los Angeles.))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Los Angeles
Embargo DateJune 7, 2022 21:44 EDT
Byline((Mike O’Sullivan, VOA News, Los Angeles.))
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
