President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) called on his US counterpart, Joe Biden, to put an end to the “disdain” shown by Washington towards Latin America for decades.
“It is time to put an end to this oblivion, this abandonment, this disdain for Latin America and the Caribbean as opposed to the good-neighbor policy of that titan of freedom that was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt,” López Obrador said in front of Biden at the start of a meeting with his government teams in Mexico City.
Mexico’s president is well-known for his own disdain for the United States and will typically use one hand to poke the US in the eye while extending the other hand to ask for money.
In his speech after that call, Biden said that his country has “spent billions of dollars” in the Western Hemisphere in the last 15 years alone.
He noted that “the United States provides more foreign aid than any other country” and that its cooperation extends “throughout the world.”
“Unfortunately our responsibility does not simply end in the Western Hemisphere,” he stressed.
López Obrador announced that he would ask Biden to increase investment in the countries where the incessant migration of undocumented people to the United States originates, and who Mexico gives transit visas so they can use Mexico as their passageway legally for a few days to reach the US border.
Mexico has taken on huge infrastructure projects such as a tourist train, a new airport, and this week’s purchase of an airline, but invests very little money in its Latin American neighbors or securing its southern border, while continuously asking other countries to solve the migration problem for Mexico.
“It is a complex, controversial initiative and I am aware that its implementation implies numerous difficulties, but in my opinion, there is no better way to guarantee the prosperous, peaceful, and just future that our peoples deserve”, explained Mexico’s president while proposing the US spend more money in Latin America.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador proposed to the US president, Joe Biden, the economic integration of all of America, an import substitution plan, and investment in development to avoid forced migration.
“It is not enough to integrate into North America, this integration is being done very well with respect to the sovereignties of Canada, the United States, and Mexico, but it is very important to think about consolidating our entire continent,” López Obrador said in his conference morning press, prior to his meeting with the US president.
The fact is, most migrants leave their Latin American countries due to violence and low wages that the governments enforce upon their people, not a lack of jobs or opportunities. More trade or financial aid will offer very little relief if Latin American countries continue to allow organized crime to terrorize citizens and have a place at the table with local and federal governments.
The Mexican president had chatted with Biden for more than an hour on Sunday during the transfer of the US president from the Felipe Ángeles International Airport to downtown Mexico City, where the North American Leaders Summit will take place this Tuesday together with the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau.
Obrador affirmed that he spoke “on very good terms” with Biden about his idea of creating a commercial and economic union in America. “It was a good meeting, President Biden is very kind, he was happy all the time, we talked about issues that we are going to discuss at the meeting, at the bilateral meeting, the immigration issue, issues related to the economic integration of North America,” he said.
López Obrador reiterated his support for the new immigration policy of the United States, which last Thursday announced the monthly reception of 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, although it implies the immediate deportation to Mexico of the rest that arrives by land.
Despite this, he insisted that the United States Government and Congress must invest in the development of Latin American countries so that migration is “optional.”
“We support these measures to give options, to give alternatives so that the procedures can be carried out without running the risk of crossing our country, that the number be increased, but we do not want to get ahead of ourselves,” he commented.
The truth is that “by the end of this summit we are not going to have a new agreement,” White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who accompanies Biden, told reporters yesterday. However, “there is no reason to believe that there will not be a third step at some point,” Sullivan added, alluding to another measure that mainly benefits Venezuelans.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in Mexico on Monday to participate in the North American Leaders Summit with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and US President Joe Biden, with whom he will discuss immigration, trade, and security issues. The plane landed around 2:30 p.m. at the new Felipe Ángeles International Airport, where López Obrador and his wife, Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller, were waiting for him, as well as the chancellor, Marcelo Ebrard.
López Obrador indicated on his Twitter account his enthusiasm for receiving the Canadian minister and highlighted the good relations with Canada, especially with regard to labor matters.
“Our relations are more than good. Canadian companies invest in Mexico without obstacles and the Government of that country has been generous in granting temporary work visas to our compatriots,” said the Mexican president.
Trudeau went to the National Palace on Monday afternoon, where López Obrador offered a dinner for the leaders and their wives.
He also plans to speak with the Mexican president about the Treaty between Mexico, the United States, and Canada (T-MEC) to address, in particular, the energy sector, which would help attract more foreign investment to Mexico, in addition to addressing issues on indigenous peoples of both nations. The United States and Canada began consultations within the T-MEC last year to question Mexico’s energy policy, which favors state companies over foreign investments.
The last visit of the Canadian prime minister to Mexico occurred in October 2017, during the six-year term of Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018) in the midst of the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which had been in force since 1994 between the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) called on his US counterpart, Joe Biden, to put an end to the "disdain" shown by . . .
