The Summit of the Americas returns to the US, its first host. Here, the keys to understand what it is and how it works

AMLO assures "friendship and respect" with the US and the decision it makes on the Summit 2:23

(CNN Spanish) --

The city of Los Angeles, in California, will host the ninth Summit of the Americas starting on June 6, a meeting held periodically by the political leaders of the continent to debate and define actions in the face of problems and challenges shared by the region and advance integration.

Here, the keys to understand what happens at the summit.

The summit, which takes place approximately every three years, is the only meeting that convenes all the democratically elected heads of state and government of the countries of South America, Central America and North America, according to official information.

(In fact, however, not all the leaders of the continent have always been present, either because they do not attend or because they are not invited. The last edition that was held in 2018 in Peru, for example, was not attended by the then presidents Donald Trump and Raúl Castro, and the Venezuelan Nicolás Maduro was not invited).

This year the host country is the United States, which also hosted the first meeting that took place in 1994.

SPECIAL: SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS

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The theme of the summit: "Building a sustainable, resilient and equitable future"

The summit process transcends the meeting.

Since the previous edition, coordinators defined by each country have met periodically to plan the meeting, with the support of multilateral organizations such as the Organization of American States (OAS), among others.

Each summit has a motto in which the topics that will be at the center of the conversations are postulated.

"Building a sustainable, resilient and equitable future" is the motto of the 2022 summit, which the United States developed with other participants.

It is the result, according to the State Department, of the priorities and concerns shared by actors from all over the continent.

In this framework, the covid-19 pandemic and the "cracks it has exposed" at the social and economic level, the climate crisis, the threats to democracy and the lack of equitable access to opportunities are explicitly mentioned.

In the 2018 edition, at a time when corruption cases such as those of Odebrecht, Lava Jato, the Panama Papers and Cambridge Analytica were still ongoing on the continent, the central motto had been "Democratic governance against corruption."

Los Angeles, the city chosen by the US for the Summit of the Americas

The ninth edition of the summit will be held in the city of Los Angeles, California, which has the largest Hispanic community in the country.

It will happen between June 6 and 10.

Some figures highlighted by the State Department show its diversity: the population represents 140 countries and more than 220 languages ​​are spoken there.

Los Angeles, states the Government, "will foster an inclusive environment for all Summit participants."

In addition, there is the busiest port in the Western Hemisphere and it has logistical advantages such as its hotel infrastructure.

The story of the summit

The United States was the country that convened, in 1994, the first Summit of the Americas to be held in Miami.

Since then, the heads of state and government of the countries of South, Central and North America have participated in these meetings, as well as other high-ranking officials from the countries of the region, including the ministers of Foreign Affairs.

The last summit took place in Lima in 2018, preceded by the one in Panama City in 2015. In total, eight ordinary and two extraordinary summits have been held.

You can consult all the historical information in this section of the official website.

Other actors that will participate in the Summit of the Americas

Although politicians are the ones under the spotlight at the meeting, the summit process also involves heads of multiple international organizations ranging from the OAS to the International Labor Organization, including organizations working on issues as diverse as economy, health and development.

Civil society, companies and historically marginalized sectors of the population also participate through other mechanisms provided for in the framework of the summit.

This year, the Department of State is organizing three specific forums for some of these sectors of the population: the ninth Civil Society Forum, the fourth CEO Summit of the Americas, and the sixth Youth Photo of the Americas.

These official forums, as the announcement explains, are "critical mechanisms to ensure action and accountability."

The Summit of the Americas