US Latin American set to confront economic problems

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The problems of rising poverty and decreasing productivity in Latin America will be on the agenda when the foreign ministers of 12 regional countries convene in Washington on Wednesday, a U.S. State Department official said.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken aims during the talks to "tackle? those challenges and work toward making the Americas ?the world's most economically competitive region,? said Brian Nichols, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs.

The ministers represent members of the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity, established two years ago to ?achieve concrete results for the middle class, workers, and historically marginalized groups? by deepening economic integration and creating good paying jobs, Nichols said, speaking at a briefing this week.

?Through this partnership, we will work together to build resilient supply chains, reinvigorate our region?s economic institutions, and invest in our workers, our infrastructure, and our strategic industries ? whether through semiconductors or clean energy, or medical supplies or the critical minerals needed for our modern economy.?

Nichols pointed out that the United States is Latin America's largest trading partner and its largest source of foreign direct investment. In 2023, U.S. trade with Latin America and the Caribbean totaled over $1.1 trillion, and Mexico displaced China as America?s top trading partner.

Nevertheless, he said ?poverty rates are rising in Latin America, productivity has lagged, and income inequality remains a serious problem. The pandemic demonstrated to us and to our regional partners the importance of developing more diversified and reliable supply chains closer to home.?

Lisa Kubiske, a former U.S. ambassador to Honduras and former deputy assistant secretary of state, said that in the past two years, the member nations have been able to close gaps in their free trade agreements and address structural issues that thwart broad-based economic growth.

At a summit in November, she said, the leaders of the 12 countries directed their ministers to develop three tracks: trade, finance and foreign affairs. On the foreign affairs front, the group has engaged ?on clean hydrogen, entrepreneurship, rule of law and transparency, smart agriculture, peaceful uses of space? and other issues, she told journalists at a briefing.