By Trevor Hunnicutt, Lisandra Paraguassu and Humeyra Pamuk

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday will lay out a pitch to leaders from the Americas for an environmentally-friendly economic partnership as he gears up for a first formal encounter with his Brazilian counterpart, a noted climate change skeptic.

Biden will have a meeting with Jair Bolsonaro (Brazilian President) at the Summit of the Americas Los Angeles. The gathering is meant to emphasize renewed U.S. engagement in Latin America, after decades of neglect under the Trump Administration.

Biden pledged to support economies’ growth “from the bottom down and the middle out” during the summit’s opening.

Biden stated to assembled leaders that the American partnership would tackle climate change head-on with the same mindset we bring to work in America. Climate is synonymous with jobs. We can accelerate our transition into a greener economy by finding high-quality and well-paid jobs.

Biden will host the summit, which is facing domestic and international challenges, including surging inflation and debates over gun control following more mass shootings and war in Ukraine.

However, instead of strengthening regional unity, this summit was beset by diplomatic strife, sparked in part by Washington’s exclusion from the U.S. anti-Americans Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, citing their poor human rights records.

Allies of the leftist trio were upset, particularly Mexican President Andres Manual Lopez Obrador. He threatened to stay away from countries that refused to invite him.

Other leaders stated they would also do so and reduced the number of heads of state or government who were in attendance by 21.

Marcelo Ebrard from Mexico, Mexico’s foreign ministry, spoke out on Wednesday to say that it was an “important error” for countries to be frozen and that it had delayed the summit up to 2012. This was the last time Cuba wasn’t invited.

Biden seemed to make a reference to guest-list controversy at the beginning of his speech, just before he began two days worth of talks.

“Our area is vast and varied. He said that we don’t agree with everything. “But, because we’re democratic democracies we deal with our disagreements through mutual respect and dialog.”

A partial boycott gave prominence to Biden’s first meeting with Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro is an admirer former U.S. president Donald Trump, who has this week cast doubt on Biden’s 2020 victory.

Biden also spoke out about a summit declaration regarding migration, due Friday. He called it “a groundbreaking, integrated, new approach”, with joint responsibility throughout the hemisphere.

He did not provide any details, except to state that the initiative will “increase safe and orderly immigration through the region” and combat criminal and human trafficking. This was a concern for officials from the region.

The summit will be followed by a summit of business leaders, which aims at strengthening regional economic relations and bringing back supply chains from Asia to prevent disruptions.

Biden is scheduled to preside over leaders’ meetings on Thursday. These talks are aimed to promote energy security, as Western power try to decrease their dependence upon oil and natural gas from Russia.

Kamala Harris, U.S. vice president will meet with Caribbean heads to share initiatives for boosting the region’s renewable energy potential.