Summit for Democracy brings together more than 100 countries as of today
Starting this Thursday (9), leaders and organizations from more than 100 countries and territories will participate in the Summit for Democracy, a virtual meeting promoted by the US government.
By organizing this meeting, President Joe Biden fulfills an electoral promise: to bring the United States back to the world stage to lead a group of democracies committed to confronting the expansionist ambitions of autocratic countries, especially China.
At the virtual summit - which runs until this Friday (10) from Washington - the US president will bring together heads of State and Government and leaders of organizations, as well as representatives of the private sector and civil organizations, in a global effort to defend democracies against authoritarianism, corruption and systematic attacks on human rights.
All members of the European Union (EU) will attend the meeting, with the exception of Hungary, which was not invited.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will be present as a representative of the European bloc.
Unsurprisingly, Washington's main rivals, in particular China, Russia and Iran, do not appear on the list of participants.
Turkey (United States ally in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization), Cuba, Guatemala, Venezuela and the traditional Arab partners of the Americans (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar or the United Arab Emirates) are also included in the list of countries that were left out.
Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe and Timor-Leste participate in the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP).
Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea and Mozambique were not invited.
Joe Biden invited Taiwan, an autonomous island that the United States does not recognize as an independent country, but which it sees as a democratic model vis-à-vis China.
Critics of the Summit for Democracy question the effectiveness of the meeting and ask what can be achieved in just two days of a meeting in virtual format, in addition to denouncing the abstract content of the proposed objectives.
Text translated using artificial intelligence.
