They discuss preparation for pandemic and migration in Latin America

Three years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Latin America still faces a “long road” of preparation for a possible next health crisis, experts and US officials assured during the first day of talks of the CAF annual conferencewhich takes place in Washington and addresses issues and problems in the Americas.

“The pandemic revealed to us a truth that there has always been inequality, lack of access to health services, differences between urban and rural areas. [que] They posed a serious threat to our region,” said Brian Nichols, US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs.

Closing these gaps, experts agreed, together with an effort by governments to promote health systems, would be the way in which the region could avoid future damage such as those experienced by COVID-19.

Beatriz Londoño, former Minister of Health of Colombia, said that it is necessary to “believe science and work to avoid misinformation (…) Coordination does not occur only from emergency situations, it is built and is not taken for granted spontaneous generation. And that means systematic, transparent, frank work”.

Felicia Knaul, director of the Institute for Advanced Studies of the Americas at the University of Miami, called for thinking about the “health economy”, since the systems are “poorly financed” despite the fact that “we have known for decades that the return of investment in health is one of the highest we can have”.

Nichols added that “we cannot walk towards a future where if one does not live in the capital city one does not have access to the quality of health that is required.” He also called for maintaining the region’s production of necessary health supplies such as vaccines and antibiotic pills.

Juan Gonzáles, senior director of the National Security Council for the Western Hemisphere at the White House, added that the “post-pandemic shocks” also pose a migration challenge in the region due to the economic impact that leads people to decide to move from their homes. countries.

Role of the US in addressing irregular migration from the region

Given the announcement that the first processing centers for migrants will open in Guatemala on June 12, Nichols assured that the US government will “support these offices to find legal pathways (migration) in the region.”

“We are committed to promoting orderly, safe, and legal migration in our hemisphere,” he added.

Regarding the US actions to address the migration crisis from local governments in Latin America, Nichols assured that the US government is “collaborating economically” with those countries to implement “humanitarian aid” and “technical cooperation.”

Gonzáles, for his part, stressed that the US is “seeing the immigration issue, not from the point of view of our border, but one where it is comprehensive.”

In addition, he assured that they seek to “work with the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean to ensure that there are legal and safe channels for migration, so that people traffickers are not the ones who mobilize migrants.”

Summit of Cities and its impact on migration management

Nina Hachigian, special representative for US city and state diplomacy, explained a series of achievements made during the Cities Summit that was held in Denver at the end of April.

Among them, he mentioned that “cities are at the forefront, in the sense that they are the ones who manage the flow of migrants arriving… and they have a lot of control over how they are perceived and how they are integrated.”

Hachigian added that the Summit also allowed mayors to unite on “the positive impact that migration has for local communities.”

Homeland Security and the Climate Crisis

The director of the CSN at the White House elaborated on the US position on key issues for the region, including the sanctions against Venezuela that governments such as Gustavo Petro’s in Colombia have called for lifting.

“The US cannot be a political actor within Venezuela but where we support dialogues between Venezuelans and offer to ease the pressure of sanctions based on concrete steps,” he said, referring to the opening of elections in the South American country.

The White House would be beginning “the exploration of other routes than clinging to maximum pressure with a hope that will never come,” González said.

The first day of the CAF Conference ended with experts from the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Inter-American Dialogue discussing the need for a clean energy transition and the necessary investments to address climate change in the region.

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