The Name of Biden’s Problem Is Blinken

Mistake after mistake, Antony Blinken is the main reason why the Biden administration is weakening, even though those who talk in cliches insist that “all politics is local.”

The debacle of Joe Biden’s administration began with the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. If he now gives in to the populist extortion by countries in Latin American, led by Mexico, it will be the end for him.

If Biden goes forward, and the Summit of the Americas takes place as scheduled without inviting dictators from Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba, no one is going to attend the summit. It will be a disaster.

What was this summit supposed to accomplish?

Donald Trump ordered it to go forward, but he never invited anyone, even though it was up to him.

The naivete of the America’s secretary of state is staggering. Even worse, as former Mexican President Vicente Fox Quesada said, Blinken couldn’t find his ass with both hands and a map.

From the beginning of the Biden administration, we have repeatedly insisted in this column that it is still daunting to sit in a seat recently occupied, not always seamlessly, by such people as John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright, Warren Christopher, and James Baker.

As we have noted, just days after Blinken was named secretary of state, he contacted Benjamin Netanyahu, but Israel’s prime minister at the time didn’t take the call. Putting on a cassock doesn’t make you a monk, as the old proverb says.

Only an extremely naïve individual would invite Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to form a front against authoritarian populism in Latin America.

And to invite Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. And the president of Bolivia, Luis Alberto Arce Catacora. And the leader of Honduras, Iris Xiomara Castro Sarmiento.

What world does Blinken live in?

Biden’s agenda is contrary to the plans of authoritarian leaders who are going to spoil his summit in Los Angeles.

The presidents mentioned above do not have the slightest commitment to human rights, democracy, the rule of law or sustainable development.

Although their political views vary, Bolsonaro and López Obrador are the same person; one stripped part of the Amazon forest and the other cut down the forest of the Maya.

These are the partners with whom the United States is going to fight climate change?

The presidents of the countries that are snubbing the Summit are characterized by their constant attacks, personal and even illegal, on journalists, attacks which have cost the lives of communications professionals.

These are the partners with whom the United States is going to defend freedom of expression in the Americas?

Governments that are antidemocratic and close to — or a part of — criminal groups. These are the right partners for the United States to defend democratic values and the rule of law?

Good Lord, Blinken is so naïve!

On one side, he asks Congress for money to support civil society organizations that work for human rights and transparency. On the other, he invites López Obrador, Bolsonaro, Bolivian President Luis Arce and Honduran President Xiomara Castro. They defend those who imprison journalists and opposition figures, like Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, Miguel Díaz-Canel of Cuba, and Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela.

In making his annual budget request, Blinken said, “In response to increasing authoritarianism around the world, the Request has more than $3.2 billion to advance democratization, protect universal human rights, bolster anti-corruption work, and increase programming that builds inclusive, legitimate, and effective governance.”

Very well, but of course, the authoritarian governments, which violate human rights and due process, which promote corruption by awarding contracts that are rigged and forego competitive bidding, feel offended. And they have said so, López Obrador not just once but repeatedly.

The State Department finances (in part and for many years) organizations like Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity. And Blinken wants López Obrador to sit down at a table in California to promote agreements in favor of transparency and strengthening the institutions of civil society.

He doesn’t know who he’s dealing with.

Blinken has demonstrated that he has very little or no aptitude for the job, and he is damaging Biden’s presidency — and not just over the summit fiasco.

It was a big decision for Biden to withdraw the troops from Afghanistan, but Blinken managed it disastrously, despite having had six months to carefully plan it out.

He insulted the Chinese leaders at the summit held in Alaska, without considering that he needed them when the time came to settle accounts with Russia.

Without consulting France, he made a deal to sell Australia nuclear submarines worth billions of dollars, a deal that superseded the French deal with Australia.

At the time, he believed that in López Obrador and others, he had strong allies in putting the brakes on the advance of authoritarianism by Maduro, Daniel Ortega and Díaz-Canel among others that might turn up.

We will see the collapse of Biden's administration if Blinken invites the dictators who defend the president of Mexico — or the emptiness of the Summit of the Americas, if they are left out.

What is the need for this, Mr. Blinken?