Mexico
Biden’s visit to Mexico focuses on migration and drugs
Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (l) welcomes his American counterpart Joe Biden at Zumpango Airport. photo
© Fernando Llano/AP/dpa
The US President depends on Mexico’s cooperation to do something about illegal migration and drug smuggling. Despite progress, there are once again differences in this matter.
During a visit to Mexico, US President Joe Biden is seeking closer cooperation between the two countries to tackle deadly drug smuggling and a record level of illegal migration into the US.
At the start of a two-day visit to Mexico City, Biden met his Mexican counterpart Andrés Manuel López Obrador yesterday evening (local time). The two invoked the partnership between their countries, but also revealed differences. López Obrador called for an end to “the contempt for Latin America”. Today the two presidents want to meet Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for a North America summit.
“Ending the Contempt for Latin America”
Biden and López Obrador were particularly close at the welcoming ceremony in the National Palace in Mexico City after their relationship had suffered last year: the Mexican President, like other counterparts, boycotted a summit with which Biden’s government was changing its relationship with the countries of the region wanted to improve.
The meeting of the two presidents showed that the differences have not been completely resolved. “It is time to put an end to the forgetting, neglect and contempt of Latin America and the Caribbean,” said López Obrador. “President Biden, you hold the key to opening up and substantially improving relations between all countries in the Americas.” He advocated more economic cooperation, more “brotherhood” and “respecting our differences and our sovereignty”.
Biden also advocated closer cooperation with Mexico and other countries in the region in many areas. “It is clear that we are stronger and more secure when we stand together.” However, the US President also emphasized that the USA had already done a great deal for the countries on the continent in recent years and provided billions. And the view must also be directed to other regions of the world.
Republicans criticize Biden’s migration policy
When it comes to cooperation with Mexico, the issue of migration has particular domestic political importance for Biden. The Democrat has long been under pressure over the rising numbers of illegal border crossings. Republicans accuse him of triggering a crisis with his more liberal migration policies. Recently, the number of people entering the country illegally has increased dramatically: between October 2021 and October 2022, the US border protection agency registered well over two million attempts by people to get from Mexico to the USA – a record.
Mexico is of central importance to the topic because most migrants from Latin America come to the USA via Mexico: the common border is around 3,200 kilometers long. Shortly before his visit to Mexico, Biden presented new regulations with which he wants to stem illegal migration to the United States.
This includes a new agreement with Mexico: the US wants to send back to Mexico 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela who entered the US illegally every month. In return, up to 30,000 people from these countries are to be given the opportunity to enter the country legally every month – but only if they meet strict requirements. López Obrador indicated during Biden’s visit that he might be willing to expand on this.
Both sides are concerned about drug smuggling at the border
On the way to Mexico, Biden visited the southern border of the United States for the first time during his tenure on Sunday. Drug smuggling was also a focus there. In Mexico City, Biden complained that tens of thousands of Americans had died from fentanyl. The number of drug-related deaths in the United States rose to more than 107,000 for the first time in 2021. Many of them died from a fentanyl overdose.
The US has long urged Mexico to do more to stop drug smuggling across the border. Shortly before Biden’s visit, Mexican forces arrested the son of US-imprisoned Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. He had taken over part of his father’s Sinaloa cartel and was considered one of the most important dealers in the drug fentanyl in Mexico.
The trio meeting of Biden, López Obrador and Trudeau last night (local time) should also focus on migration and drug smuggling alongside economic issues. The three countries are linked by the USMCA Free Trade Agreement.