The “Three Amigos” Summit Meeting
The “Three Amigos” summit meeting was held in a small city just outside of Mexico City
last Wednesday on February 19th.
This was the first three-way gathering for the leaders of the three largest countries in North America in over two years They did announce agreements that would facilitate travel between the three countries, however the most important issues which are trade, immigration and the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, were left unresolved.
The Three Amigos summit meeting came twenty years after the three largest nations of North America tied their economies together in a landmark trade pact which is now commonly called
“The Free Trade Agreement” or NAFTA. Mr. Obama, President, Enrique Pena Nieto of Mexico and Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada, all promised to continue the expansion of the flows of commerce as well as to broaden their ties to partners across the Pacific.
How to overcome the obstacles which are detaining a proposed trade agreement with the dozen nations involved in the negotiations? The political hurdles in Washington where Mr. Obama’s own party refuses to give him the authority he needs, to actually seal the deal is really a big challenge.
What makes matters even worse is that Mr. Obama arrived in Mexico without congressional approval for an immigration overhaul. He was also unable to give Mr. Harper the commitment for the construction of the Keystone pipeine which woud take Canadian oil to the Gulf of Mexico.
Mr. Obama was not the only leader with tough issues to avoid. Mr. Pena Nieto said little about the most recent drug violence that has plagued his country.
Mr.Pena Nieto also took some criticism for not pressing Mr. Obama on immigration prior the the summit. Carlos Puig, a Mexican journalist,pointed out in the newspaper Milenio that Mr. Obama’s government has deported a record number of Mexicans but has not been able to deliver the much promised overhauls.
Rafael Fernandez de Castro,a professor of international studies at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico, said the summit meeting was important to Mr. Pena Nieto, so that they could at least begin the layout of a road map on how the three countries could move forward for enhanced economic integration.
“After twenty years of NAFTA, where should we be in ten or twenty years?”, he asked.
There is already a de facto integration. Now we must take it into our own hands and really make it happen”
What is your opinion? Could The “Three Amigo” Summit had more success?
