The Fifth North American Summit in 2009

Venue: Guadalajara, the second largest city in Mexico.

Participating politicians:

Canadian Prime Minister Harper, Mexican President Calderon and US President Barack Obama (from left to right)

Mexican President Calderon, US President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Harper arrived in Guadalajara, Mexico's second largest city, on August 9, 2009 to attend the fifth summit of the North American Security and Prosperity Alliance, namely the North American Summit. During this meeting, the leaders of the three countries discussed economic stability, joint drug control, resisting the spread of influenza A, climate change, new energy and the political crisis in Honduras.

general situation

The leaders of Mexico and the United States mainly exchanged views on strengthening border security, coping with influenza A (H 1N 1) and the global financial crisis, and indicated that they would strive to realize the overall modernization of the Mexican-American border, believing that further improvement of infrastructure in the region would help to better maintain border security and order. The leaders of the two countries also indicated that they would summarize the effective measures taken to deal with influenza A (H 1N 1) and continue to explore new ways to deal with the influenza epidemic that may affect North America again in autumn and winter of 2009.

The leaders of Mexico and Canada mainly discussed the disputed visa issue between the two countries, but failed to reach an agreement. However, both leaders believe that this will not affect the bilateral relations between Mexico and Canada. Leaders of Mexico, the United States and Canada held trilateral talks on August, 2009 10, and discussed issues such as fighting economic recession, joint drug control, fighting the spread of influenza, climate change and political crisis in Honduras. Stabilize the economy

The most noteworthy topic of this summit is to stabilize the economy. 1994 after NAFTA came into effect, Canada and Mexico became the largest and third largest trading partners of the United States respectively, and about 80% of their exports went to the United States. The outbreak of the financial crisis triggered the worst economic recession in the United States since the Great Depression of the last century, and Canada and Mexico also suffered greatly. However, the new economic stimulus plan launched by the United States in June+10, 5438 was considered to have taken protectionist measures, which attracted strong opposition from major trading partners of the United States, such as Canada, European Union countries and Mexico. It is expected that the leaders of Canada and Mexico will use this summit to put pressure on the United States again on this issue. In addition, the United States proposed to reopen NAFTA negotiations, mainly asking Canada and Mexico to re-examine the labor and environmental provisions in NAFTA. However, due to the turbulent economic situation, revising the content of NAFTA may not be the focus of this summit.

Joint drug control problem

Joint drug control is also an important topic of this summit. Drug crimes seriously endanger the social order in Mexico, and Mexican drug trafficking groups have also infiltrated into the United States and Canada, which has become a hidden danger affecting the security of North America. Mexican President Calderon launched a large-scale "war on drugs" in China in 2006, and achieved remarkable results. He has always hoped to unite with other countries in the region to fight drug trafficking. How to establish a joint drug control mechanism has become a major topic of this North American Summit. Canadian Prime Minister Harper promised on August 8, 2009 that Canada would provide training for Mexican federal police. In addition, the Canadian government will provide further assistance according to the specific requirements of the Mexican government in the future.

Influenza a H 1N 1

Influenza A H 1N 1 which first broke out in Mexico in April 2009 has spread all over the world. Mexico, the United States and Canada have reported tens of thousands of cases, and hundreds of people have died in the United States and Mexico. In the upcoming influenza season in the northern hemisphere in the second half of 2009, how to prevent and control the recurrence of influenza epidemic has naturally become a major topic of this summit.

The talks between the leaders of the three countries are conducive to building a macro framework, solving thorny problems in North America and even the whole America, and promoting economic development and security in North America. The trilateral summit of North America opened in Mexico on August 9, 2009, which triggered about 400 people to demonstrate outside the venue. Demonstrators protested against the negative impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and fought for the rights and interests of Mexican retired workers who worked in the United States during World War II.

Just before the opening of the summit, Mexican police cars with live ammunition patrolled the street where the venue was located, and the police set up artificial roadblocks to prevent demonstrators from approaching the venue. Several groups in the United States, Mexico and Canada announced that they would hold a tit-for-tat summit with the theme of "the failed North American Free Trade Agreement". Critics believe that NAFTA bankrupted some Mexican farmers, stimulated immigration to the United States, and caused many American jobs to be transferred overseas.

Protesters demanded that the United States reform its immigration policy and issued a petition calling on Mexican workers who worked in the United States during World War II to get their due remuneration. Demonstrators took part in a demonstration in Guadalajara, Mexico, holding slogans to protect Mexican agricultural products. On the eve of the North American Summit, they gathered in front of the American and Canadian consulates in Guadalajara to protest the North American Free Trade Agreement and Canada's cancellation of visa-free entry to Mexico. US President Barack Obama attended the first North American Summit held in Guadalajara, the second largest city in Mexico, from August 9th to 10, 2009. At the "premiere" of the summit, Obama faced tough topics such as economic recession, drug smuggling and influenza A (H 1N 1). The situation in Honduras will also be the focus of attention of world leaders. This meeting is the fifth summit of the North American Alliance for Security and Prosperity. During these two days, Obama will meet with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister stephen harper to discuss a series of topics about these three countries.

As the summit is held in Mexico, topics related to Mexico are bound to become the focus of discussion. Among them, cooperation in preventing and controlling influenza A and combating drug trafficking is a problem that Mexico needs to solve vigorously. "What affects our neighbors may also affect us, so we hope to have a close and smooth cooperative relationship," said James jones, assistant to the US president for national security affairs.

North America is the place where influenza A first appeared. Since the spring of 2009, all three countries have reported tens of thousands of cases, and hundreds of people have died in the United States and Mexico. At present, major pharmaceutical companies have carried out human trials of influenza A vaccine, and the vaccine will be listed soon. Combating drug trafficking is also an important issue. Mexican drug trafficking organizations gradually penetrated into major cities in the United States and Canada and established a huge drug trafficking network. With the support of the United States, Calderon sent troops to fight drugs, which was quite effective. But face some allegations of human right violations. Last week, the US Congress delayed the payment of $654.38 billion in aid to Mexico.

Patricia Espinosa, Mexico's foreign minister, said she was confident of receiving assistance. Mexico explained to the United States its efforts in protecting human rights. In addition to continuing cooperation projects, there are also projects facing suspension. On August 7, 2009, Obama said that in view of the economic recession of the three countries, this summit may not be a good time to revisit the North American Free Trade Agreement. He said: "To be honest, at present, the economy is shrinking sharply and the global trade volume is decreasing sharply. The situation in Mexico is more serious. In addition to the economic contraction, there is also the impact of influenza A (H 1N 1) on tourism. In the coming months, we may be more inclined to stabilize the economy first and then talk about long-term planning. "

The North American Free Trade Agreement was signed on 1992 and came into effect on 1994. During the campaign, Obama advocated renegotiating this agreement with Mexico and Canada and increasing the proportion of labor and environmental policies. Obama said: "amending the agreement is not our focus. At present, we still face a difficult economic situation. "

Besides their own problems, the situation in Honduras, a Central American country, will also be the focus of discussion among the three leaders. Mexican Foreign Minister Espinosa said that the heads of the three countries will discuss Honduras in detail. The three countries reached an agreement on the political crisis in Honduras and supported the San Jose Declaration, which is dedicated to restoring the constitution and democratic process in Honduras. Manuel Zelaya, the ousted President of Honduras, said on August 5, 2009 that he would pay close attention to Obama's statement at the North American Summit and the discussions among the leaders of the three countries. But Zelaya may not get the best result he wants. On August 7, 2009, Obama said that he had no quick solution to the political crisis in Honduras. He said that he still supports Zelaya's reinstatement, but the United States will not take unilateral action on this. He said, "I can't press a button, and then Zelaya goes back to work."