U.S. lawmakers join Latin American counterparts to form Panamerican Congress

A group of U.S. lawmakers is meeting this week with Latin American counterparts to form a new multinational congress to tackle thorny cross-border issues such as climate change and migration throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Organizers say the newly formed Panamerican Congress will differ from the European Union Parliament because it won’t make laws for the region. Nor, they say, is it to be seen as an alternative to the Organization of American States, the largest regional body that is often criticized for supposedly being dominated by Washington.

Instead organizers hope the new body will create a fresh forum to brainstorm ideas and come up with policies to address persistent regional problems.

“Instead of the old model of the United States trying to dominate Latin America, we should be working with Latin America to survive climate change and address joint economic needs,” among other issues, Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) said in an interview.

“We need new models to replace the Monroe Doctrine,” he added, referring to the 19th century U.S. policy that discouraged European interference in Latin America but was also used at times to assert U.S. dominance over the hemisphere.

In addition to the United States, seven other countries from around the hemisphere will be represented at the gathering in the Colombian capital of Bogota.

Casar is one of three Democratic U.S. Congress members — along with the chief of staff for a fourth — forming the delegation from here.

Besides Colombia, the other nations participating are Brazil, Canada, Chile, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. Most are led by progressive governments, and their representatives at the congress are primarily from left-leaning political parties.

The three-day meeting will begin Saturday. Host country Colombia, governed by the first leftist president in its history, Gustavo Petro, will open the congress with Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo.

It is being organized from Washington by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a progressive think tank, which invited a limited group of Democratic lawmakers who are focused on Latin America.

“The challenges plaguing our hemisphere — democratic backsliding, climate crisis, deep poverty, political violence, family displacement — are too urgent, too significant for any one nation to address alone,” Rep. Delia Ramirez of Illinois, another member of the U.S. delegation, said in a statement. “The Panamerican Congress convenes the legislators and leaders from across the Americas committed to realizing a future of justice, peace, and stability throughout the continent — together.”

As an example of what the congress has the potential to do, Casar pointed to discussions he had with counterparts on the Amazon rainforest and the vast devastation the region is suffering. As a result, he lobbied in support of a Biden commitment of $100 million a year for five years for the Amazon Fund, a Brazilian investment initiative dedicated to the preservation and restoration of the Amazon basin. (About $50 million was delivered to the fund, but ultimately the GOP-controlled House blocked additional money, Casar’s office said.)

“It is encouraging to see U.S. legislators, who have been largely absent from regional dialogue efforts historically, engaging in extensive discussions with their regional peers in a spirit of mutual respect and equality,” said Alex Main, who heads international policy for the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

Casar said that the Biden administration has made progress in some areas, such as addressing the root causes of illegal immigration to the U.S. and taking steps to reduce the use of fossil fuels that are heating up the planet. But there’s still a long way to go, he added.

“We started to see a real shift, but in [the U.S.] Congress we are way behind,” he said. “We have to pick up the pace.”

It is unclear how much influence the Panamerican Congress ultimately can have. It will be seen as a progressive effort, which means there is little chance for bipartisan support in the U.S. There will probably be similar reluctance to participate in more conservative-led governments of Latin America and the Caribbean.