Biden arrives in Saudi Arabia to meet with the king and crown prince

President Joe Biden arrived in Saudi Arabia on Friday, where he will try to bridge a gap between the United States and the kingdom at a time when concerns about human rights abuses have been overshadowed by other challenges, including the rise of gasoline prices and Iranian aggression in the Middle East.

It is Biden’s first visit to Saudi Arabia since taking office and his first meeting with the kingdom’s crown prince and heir presumptive to the throne, Mohammed bin Salman.

The main question, important far beyond the day, is whether the 79-year-old American president and the 36-year-old Saudi royal can reaffirm the longstanding strategic partnership between their two countries.

The future of the region, including the possibility of closer ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel, as well as the ebb and flow of global oil supply hang in the balance.

The visit can already be seen as a victory for the crown prince, known by his initials MBS. His rise to power ushered in a new era for the kingdom as it works to build a local military and arms industry, wean itself off oil for revenue, and build ties with Israel and other nations as protection against perceived that the US is a less reliable security partner.

Biden has so far refused to speak to MBS, and Friday’s meeting could lend greater legitimacy to the crown prince’s path to the throne.

There has been much speculation about the choreography and substance of how Biden, who as a presidential candidate had vowed to treat the Saudis as a “pariah” for their human rights record, would interact with the crown prince.

Biden has declined to say whether he would mention the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a US-based journalist and critic of the kingdom.

Last year, his administration approved the release of a US intelligence finding that the crown prince, known as MBS, likely approved of Khashoggi’s killing.

The publication of the report caused a new rupture in relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia.

“My views on Khashoggi have been absolutely positively clear. And I have never been silent when talking about human rights,” Biden said. “However, the reason I am going to Saudi Arabia is much broader. It’s to advance US interests, advance US interests in a way that I think we have an opportunity to reassert what I think we made a mistake in walking away from: our influence in the Middle East.”

Biden was expected to sit down with King Salman first before taking part in a larger meeting that would include Prince Mohammed and other top Saudi officials, as well as the president’s top advisers.

[Con información de The Associated Press y Reuters]

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