This Wednesday, the plenary meeting of the second Summit for Democracy is taking place in Washington DC, an event convened by the United States Government through the Department of State, with the participation of associated governments.
As announced by the Biden Administration, the meeting has five co-hosts: the United States, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea and Zambia; countries that were part of the official opening of the political event.
Likewise, the Democratic president inaugurated the virtual summit with the promise of investing 690 million dollars to promote democracy throughout the world.
According to the 80-year-old president, the funds will be granted to support a free and independent press, fight corruption, improve human rights, and advance new technologies.
In the midst of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s diplomatic offensives, the Democratic government specified that the forum’s objective is to seek a united front against authoritarianism.
Among the countries of the European Union, the absence of Hungary stands out, whose Prime Minister Victor Orban won a fourth term last year, but has been accused of deviating from liberal values with restrictions on the press and opting for the policies adopted by Moscow facing the invasion of Ukrainian territory.
In total, 121 leaders have been invited for the three-day gathering. As will be remembered, the 2021 edition was marked by different questions to the ideological lines of the international community.
Other US partners who will not be at the summit include Singapore, whose elections are generally regarded as free but limits freedom of assembly and regulates the media, and Bangladesh, a region where multiple people have been arrested under a Digital Security Law.
On the African continent, five countries that were not invited in 2021: Tanzania, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Mauritania and Mozambique, attend the aforementioned forum.
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