Mexican, US leaders discuss migration in phone call

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador spoke by phone with US President Joe Biden on Friday to discuss the upcoming Summit of the Americas and their joint effort regarding migration.

According to an official briefing issued by Mexico’s Secretary of Interior, the call consisted mainly of the bilateral cooperation between the bordering countries to address the root causes of migration.

Migration has become a pressing matter for both nations. With a record-breaking number of refugee seekers trying to cross the US-Mexico border in recent years, both heads of state have been pushing for development programs and investment in the region of Central America and Southern Mexico in an effort to curve the ongoing crisis.

By the end of December 2021, US investment in Central America had added to $1.2 billion, with companies such as Mastercard, Nespresso, and Microsoft among the private investment allocated in the region.

The Mexican president’s forestry program “Sowing Life” has allocated $100 million to push development in the region.

Lopez Obrador has scheduled a tour from May 5 to May 9 throughout Central America and Cuba, where he will push for cooperation and to assess the success of his “Sowing Life” program.

Furthermore, both leaders talked about strengthening the agricultural and commercial activity within the shared 3,152 km (over 1,900 miles) border and the upcoming Summit of the Americas.

Lopez Obrador confirmed that Mexico would participate in the event and proposed that all the countries of the Americas be invited “without excluding anyone.”

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard will join the summit.

“We had a cordial conversation with President Biden. We discussed issues of interest in the bilateral relationship and agreed that Secretary Marcelo Ebrard would visit Washington on Monday to make progress on development cooperation issues and the Summit of the Americas,” wrote Lopez Obrador on his Twitter account.