(UnitedVoice.com) – The presidents of eight South American countries signed the Amazon Cooperation Treaty in July 1978 to promote the sustainable development of the Amazon Basin. In 1995, signatories created the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) to streamline their operations. The group’s member states include Brazil, Peru, Guyana, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia, and Suriname.
The alliance has remained relatively inactive over the years. However, the presidents of the member states of the ACTO met in Belem, Brazil, for a six-day summit beginning on August 4. The meeting was only the fourth time the group met during its 45-year alliance and the first time since 2009.
Conspicuously, the United States didn’t send a representative to that important summit — as it turns out, for a good reason.
Amazon Treaty Alliance Snubs the United States
On August 4, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press release providing details about the 4th gathering of the ACTO. The notice announced that the group invited representatives from France, Norway, and Germany to attend an expanded meeting on the summit’s final day as part of an ongoing effort by the organization to seek new partnerships.
Likewise, representatives and leaders from developing nations with tropical forests attended the event. Those countries included the Grenadines, Saint Vincent, Indonesia, the Republic of Congo, and its neighbor, the Democratic Republic of Congo. Neither Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the ACTO invited the United States to send a representative to the summit.
Media Outlets Report on the Embarrassing Situation
Breitbart News and other media outlets published articles discussing the alliance’s decision to snub the United States. The omission of an invitation to the US was a particularly embarrassing rebuke in light of President Joe Biden’s recent commitment to spend $500 million (2.5 billion Brazilian reais) over five years on Brazil’s Amazon Fund, a conservation project created over a decade ago to counter deforestation in the Amazon Basin.
In April, Biden pledged the money during a virtual meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate. However, Congress must approve those funds and, so far, doesn’t appear to have taken any action on the president’s pledge.
The summit’s meeting schedule would have provided ample opportunities for the United States to protect and promote its regional interests had an invitation been extended. For instance, on August 7, foreign affairs and environmental ministers from member states met with representatives from guest countries to hold a preparatory meeting to address their concerns. Then, on August 9, the presidents of the member states met with representatives from the three European nations invited to the gathering along with international financial entities and multinational groups.
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