Some two dozen leaders have descended on Los Angeles for the Summit of the Americas, where Biden late Wednesday implored them to show that democracy can produce results.
"There is no reason why the Western Hemisphere shouldn't be secure, prosperous and democratic, from Canada's northernmost reaches to the southern tips of Chile," he told a welcoming reception with pop performers at a downtown Los Angeles theater.
But as China makes rapid inroads in Latin America, long viewed by Washington as its turf, Biden has steered clear of big-dollar pledges and has instead sought cooperation in targeted areas.
The summit on Thursday will focus on climate, with Vice President Kamala Harris tasked with meeting leaders of Caribbean nations that are particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels.
One outlier from the international chorus to battle climate change has been Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a champion of agribusiness who has horrified environmentalists who warn that further erosion of the Amazon rainforest will disrupt a vital natural sink for the planet's carbon emissions.
Ahead of Biden's first meeting with Bolsonaro on Thursday, the White House said Brazil, Colombia and Peru would join a US-backed initiative to explore ways to reduce Amazon deforestation motivated by commodities industries.
The White House also said that Brazil and four other nations were joining a renewable energy initiative launched at last year's UN climate summit in Copenhagen.
In the pact, countries promise to work toward a goal of 70 percent renewables in their energy mix by 2030.
Despite coming under criticism over the Amazon, Brazil -- the sixth most populous nation -- has one of least carbon-intensive economies for a major economy and already meets the goal on renewables, mostly through hydropower.
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