APEC Leaders to Open Lima Summit as Trump Prepares to Return to Office

The annual gathering brings together countries and members that jointly account for almost two-thirds of global GDP and half the world’s trade, according to organizers.

They confirmed heads of government attending in Lima include outgoing US President Joe Biden, China’s President Xi Jinping, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto, Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, among others, as the world wonders how a new US government might upend global dynamics, the AP reported.

Leaders and other representatives will hold closed-door discussions in the morning among themselves, and in the afternoon with members of APEC’s business advisory council. The council met Wednesday and called on APEC nations and members to boost inclusive growth and prioritize the needs of micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises, particularly those led by women and Indigenous entrepreneurs.

Ahead of the inauguration at the port, 60 kilometers north of Lima, locals told The Associated Press that the development hasn’t buoyed their economic prospects. On the contrary, they said the port has impaired their ability to fish, threatening their livelihoods.

Discontent has been brewing in the middle-class San Borja neighborhood outside Lima’s Convention Center, where the APEC conference is sited. Metal barriers and police equipped with riot gear surround the perimeter where, for the past two days, anti-government protesters angry about a recent spate of gang-fueled violence have shouted slogans demanding that their wildly unpopular president take action against the crime wave.

The rallies have devolved into scuffles with police, who used batons to drive away the more aggressive protesters on Thursday.