Interview: U.S. seeks to divert attention from domestic problems with Summit of the Americas, says Mexican expert

MEXICO CITY, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The recently-concluded U.S.-hosted ninth Summit of the Americas can be seen as a way in which the current U.S. administration sought to divert attention away from its domestic problems, a Mexican expert has said.

In an interview with Xinhua after the summit concluded, Roberto Zepeda, a member of the Center for Research on North America at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, called for action in following through on regional agreements, especially in areas of common interest such as migration.

Several analysts have concurred that the agreements traditionally promoted by Washington are aimed more than anything at securing U.S. interests and fail to achieve mutual benefits due to a lack of any real political will or actions to follow through, he said.

The agreements and declarations made at the regional summit could end up "merely words" without concrete actions, Zepeda added.

"There is polarization (in the country) due to economic problems, the situation generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, etc. The United States has not yet recovered," he said, and like the previous administrations, the current U.S. administration is looking abroad to divert attention.

Despite Washington's efforts as host, the summit showed its diminishing leadership in the region and how much progress remains to be made in areas such as integration and cooperation, Zepeda said.

The United States wanted to use the summit as an opportunity to compensate for its inadequate attention to Latin America in recent years, the expert said, however adding that "we are living in a multipolar world" in which the United States cannot act like it did in the past, even in a region considered to be within its sphere of influence.

"We are seeing a United States whose president wants to see himself as a regional leader, strong and important, to try to recover that hegemony that he once had and which has been diminishing," Zepeda said.