‘Three Amigos’ summit: Experts call for North American vision as leaders meet in Mexico – National

From the frosty throes of a Canadian winter, the land of conquistadors and Frida Kahlo can seem a million miles away.

But that’s not the way North American diplomats, trade experts and business leaders see it – and they hope the continent’s leaders have a similar vision as the so-called “Three Amigos” gather this week in Mexico City.

“The potential for North America is immense,” said Eric Farnsworth, the former Clinton-era White House official who now leads the D.C. office of the Council of the Americas and the Americas Society.

Farnsworth said a continental perspective will be vital to make substantive progress on issues like fortified supply chains, mitigating China’s influence and building a 21st-century workforce in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s our hope that the leaders, when they get together to talk about some of these issues, keep in mind the fundamental vision of what North America really could be,” he told a panel discussion Friday.

“We can’t do these things without our partners in Canada and Mexico; it’s just fundamental to our own well-being. And so that has to be the underlying message of the leaders as they get together.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives later Monday in Mexico City, where he’ll take part in an afternoon discussion with business leaders from across the continent before the summit gets underway in earnest Tuesday.

While Trudeau is airborne, Joe Biden – fresh from his first presidential visit to the politically fraught southern border – will sit down for a bilateral meeting with Mexican counterpart Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

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A tete-a-tete between just the Canadian and U.S. leaders is scheduled to take place Tuesday morning.

“It’s a trilateral meeting, a trilateral summit, but there are lots of bilateral items that are discussed at those meetings as well,” said Gary Doer, who served as…