International
2023, a year of domestic and foreign policy challenges for the White House
December 31 |
The third year of Democrat Joe Biden’s administration in the United States was marked by challenges, both in the domestic arena and in foreign policy.
Intense negotiations with the Republican caucus in Congress, summits, a surprise visit to war-torn Kiev, strained relations with China and Russia and growing turmoil in the Middle East were some of the milestones of 2023 for the White House, which also featured colorful moments in a year that serves as a prelude to the crucial 2024 where the US will decide who will be the next president.
In February, during his trip to Europe to mark the one-year anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Joe Biden surprised the world with a visit to Kiev, kept secret until the last moment.
The images of Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, walking as anti-aircraft sirens blared were memorable. It was the first time in modern history that a U.S. president had traveled to a country at war without a U.S. military presence. With this, the Democratic president showed that he was serious about “unwavering support” for Ukraine vis-à-vis Russia.
The controversial immigration issue, the economy and foreign policy were among the central themes of Biden’s second State of the Union address since he became president.
The Democratic leader emphasized the need to pass the immigration reform he proposed before Congress and called for unity in the face of the economic challenge posed by the war in Ukraine, while praising his administration’s achievements in managing inflation, fuel prices, wage stability and job growth.
The division in Congress, with the Senate in the hands of Democrats and a polarized House with a slight Republican majority, has led to differences with the Democratic administration, which has translated into resistance to legislation and packages presented by Biden before lawmakers.
The far-right wing of the Republican Party has been a thorn in the President’s side. The battle to reach an agreement to prevent the country from defaulting on its debt, postponed until January 2025, was followed by the negotiation to keep the government open – postponed until the beginning of 2024 -, and now the refusal of Republicans to approve an emergency package with funds for Ukraine and Israel if immigration policy is not tightened, particularly on the southern border.
Just before the year-end recess, the House voted and approved formally initiating an investigation to determine a possible impeachment of Biden. The investigation will be aimed at determining whether the President and his son Hunter Biden colluded to benefit from Biden’s contracts with foreign companies during Biden’s time as Vice President.
In April, President Joe Biden announced that he would run for re-election in 2024, clearing up doubts as to whether the Democratic leader would return to fight for the White House or leave the way open to other aspirants of his party.
Age is one of the most sensitive issues facing the 81-year-old veteran politician. In his campaign, Biden has focused on highlighting the achievements of his first term, his career as a legislator and more recently, he has insisted that he is the best alternative to his predecessor Donald Trump, going so far as to point out that he would not have thought of running again had it not been for the “threat to democracy” that a second Trump term would mean.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visits to Washington served as material evidence of the Biden administration’s backing for Kiev in its war against Russia. Zelenskyy made two trips to the U.S. in 2023, both in the space of three months and coinciding with discussions in Congress on aid to the Ukrainian cause.
Zelenskyy has been received at the White House three times since the Russian invasion began in February 2022. The first visit this year was in September, following his participation in the United Nations General Assembly. The second was in December, returning from Zelenskyy’s first trip to Latin America after the start of the war. In total, Biden and Zelenskyy have met in person seven times during the U.S. president’s administration.
In a historic moment in 2023, seven Latin American heads of state arrived in Washington to meet with President Joe Biden at the first edition of the Leaders’ Summit of the Partnership for Economic Prosperity of the Americas.
Biden and his counterparts from Costa Rica, Uruguay, Peru, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Canada and Barbados, announced new joint strategies that will guarantee the investment of millions of dollars in sustainable projects, human capital formation and migration solutions for the region.
In addition, Biden announced a new investment platform that will channel “billions of dollars into building sustainable infrastructure”, organized by the US government and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Echoes of Israel’s all-out war against Hamas in Gaza following the surprise attacks of October 7 have reached the other side of the world. The US, Tel Aviv’s main ally, was quick to show its support for the Israeli forces, although more than a month after the start of the campaign against the militant group, the discourse has changed.
From irresolute support, the Biden administration maintains its position that Israel has the right to defend itself but has now called on the Israeli government to be more precise in its attacks. According to the health ministry in Gaza, bombings against Hamas have already killed more than 18,000 Palestinians and displaced thousands in the enclave, home to some 2.3 million people.
International pressure weighs on Tel Aviv, while at home, President Joe Biden faces criticism from his Muslim voters, one year before the 2024 presidential election.
It was not all high-level meetings and negotiations at the White House. In 2023, the presidential residence celebrated the nation’s top traditions and opened its gardens for Americans to tour the history and of the iconic mansion in both spring and fall.
From the traditional Thanksgiving two-turkey pardoning ceremony, holiday decorations, the lighting of the National Christmas Tree to an ice skating rink for children of public servants, front-line military workers and school children, the White House also wanted to mark festive moments in the year.
International
China shows at the UN its “condemnation” of Israel for the “violation of Iran’s sovereignty”
The Chinese ambassador to the United Nations, Fu Cong, showed the “condemnation” of his country against the “violation of the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of Iran” after the air attack launched by Israel against multiple targets in that country, the official newspaper Diario del Pueblo reports this Saturday.
That media echoes Fu’s speech to the UN Security Council on Friday, in which he demanded that Israel “immediately stop all its military actions.”
“China (…) opposes the expansion of conflicts, and is deeply concerned about the serious consequences that may arise from Israel’s actions. The intensification of regional tensions does not interest any of the parties involved,” said the Chinese emissary.
Beijing called on Tel Aviv and Tehran to “resolve their disputes through political and diplomatic means, and maintain peace and stability at the regional level jointly.”
In Fu’s view, the Israeli attack will have a “negative impact” on the negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program: “China has always been committed to the peaceful resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue through dialogue and consultations, and opposes the use of force, illegal unilateral sanctions and armed attacks on peaceful nuclear facilities.”
This Friday, China had already expressed its willingness to “play a constructive role” to curb the escalation of tensions and facilitate conciliation, in line with its traditional position of active neutrality in the region’s conflicts.
The Israeli attack, which according to Tehran caused dozens of deaths, including senior military commanders and at least six nuclear scientists, targeted key facilities such as the uranium enrichment plant in Natanz. Numerous civilian casualties were also reported.
Israel justified the offensive by claiming that the Iranian regime is secretly developing a program to manufacture nuclear weapons.
For his part, Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, promised a “severe response” and assured that the attack would reveal the “evil nature” of Israel.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres also expressed concern about the bombing, at a time when Iran and the US The United States is holding talks about the Iranian nuclear program.
International
Donald Trump’s government pauses its program of indiscriminate raides against migrants
The government of US President Donald Trump has decided to pause its campaign of discretionary roundings against migrants in certain areas due to its apparent concern about the growing unpopularity of these methods, according to The New York Times newspaper on Friday.
According to an email to which the newspaper has had access and the confirmation of US officials, the Executive has ordered the Immigration and Customs Control Service (ICE) to pause the beatings that affect the agricultural industry and the hospitality industry.
The spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, confirmed in a statement that “the president’s instructions” will be obeyed and the portfolio will also continue to “work to get the worst illegal foreign criminals out of the streets of the United States.”
The decision points out that this campaign of discretionary arrests to try to deport large-scale immigrants is harming industries and electoral constituencies whose support Trump wants to retain for next year’s legislative elections.
The new instructions were transmitted to ICE in an email sent last Thursday asking that “all investigations/law enforcement operations be suspended in work centers in the agricultural sector (including aquaculture and meat packing plants), restaurants and hotels.”
These new guidelines come in turn after more than a week of intense protests in Los Angeles against this immigration policy and that Trump himself admitted that the raids seem to be affecting the agricultural sector, which in states like California, where beatings have intensified, depend almost exclusively on immigrant labor.
Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has implemented an aggressive policy of hard hand against immigration and as a sample of his Cabinet officials recently held a meeting with the ICE leadership to order them to carry out 3,000 arrests a day, a mandate that seems to be behind the intensification of the raids.
International
Trump says he knew “everything” about the attack on Iran and assures that the dialogue remains open
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Washington “known everything” about the Israeli attack on Iran and that the dialogue on Tehran’s nuclear program “is not dead.”
“We knew everything and I tried to avoid Iran all this humiliation and death. I tried hard to avoid it because I would have loved to see an agreement,” Trump said in an interview with Reuters.
The US president insisted on what he wrote today about the attack on social networks, where he said he gave an ultimatum of 60 days to Tehran to reach an agreement.
“We knew practically everything. We knew enough to give Iran 60 days to reach an agreement and today it is already 61 days,” he explained in the interview, in which he said he did not know what the current situation of the Iranian nuclear program is after the attack launched by Israel, which also ended the lives of key military leaders of the Persian country.
Regarding the dialogue between the US and Iran about the nuclear program of the ayatollahs, Trump assured that “he is not dead”, that “an agreement is still possible” and also recalled that on Sunday a sixth round of dialogue is scheduled in Muscat (Oman) that they consider is now in the air.
“We have a meeting with them on Sunday. Now, I’m not sure if that meeting will take place, but we have a meeting with them on Sunday,” he said.
The United States and Iran have held five rounds of talks on the Iranian nuclear program since April, with Washington demanding that Tehran discard its capabilities both to manufacture an atomic bomb and to enrich uranium, something that the ayatollahs considered unacceptable.
Both Israel and Trump himself had warned of possible preventive attacks on the Persian country due to this refusal by Iran.
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