Three Amigos Summit
Have you seen that awesome movie called ¡Three Amigos!, the comedy from 1986 with Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short? It was a great movie.
Well there is another group called the Three Amigos, the three leaders of the NAFTA countries, US President Barack Obama, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.
The Three Amigos Summit is a trilateral annual summit between the leaders of Canada, Mexico, and the US. The official name for the summit, which began in March 2005, is the North American Leaders’ Summit. The continental dialogue was originally tokened as the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, but that is nowhere near as catchy as the Three Amigos Summit, right?
This past Monday, the first Three Amigos Summit since 2012 has been confirmed. All three countries’ leaders will be present in Toluca, Mexico on February 19, 2014. This will be the first time that all three countries representatives will be in attendance since 2009.
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and US President Obama, Washington, D.C., November 2012.
The hopes of the meeting are best defined by Jay Carney, White House spokesman, when he said:
At the summit, the president looks forward to discussing with Mexican President Peña Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Harper a range of issues important to the daily lives of all of North America’s people, including economic competitiveness, entrepreneurship, trade and investment, and citizen security.
The discourse will hopefully resolve some issues that have arisen recently and long standing issues of free trade amongst the three nations. Some such issues include the recent visa issues between Mexico and Canada and the ongoing debate with Mexican trucking across borders.
As the wheels of diplomacy slowly turn, we can hope that these goals are actualized. The ability to freely do business across the whole of North America would make many happy and give opportunities. Let’s hope this isn’t just another fancy photo-shoot.
Free trade, investment, entrepreneurship, economic competitiveness, citizen security all are great goals to strive for in this flat-world. Say all of these goals are realized, what can give you the adaptability to succeed in a new environment? I’d say there’s a multitude, but Spanish skills would be on my list. It’s easy to buy from a person in your language, but selling is quite different.