2023-10-23 19:41:00
Hosted by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, representatives from the region agreed to foster economic development through wide-ranging proposals to reduce northward migration.
Mayan Dictionary
Monday, October 23, 2023
The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, received authorities from nine Latin American countries to discuss strategies to reduce the flow of migrants northwardan increasingly important issue in the run-up to next year’s presidential elections in both Mexico and the United States.
On Sunday, AMLO, as the president is known, invited the leaders to Palenque — a small town in the south of the country where he owns a ranch — to tour a famous Mayan archaeological site before the discussion began. The summit followed a meeting this month between Mexican and American officials. The latter urged their southern neighbor to address migration and intervene in drug trafficking.
Latin American leaders, including five heads of state representing Venezuela, Colombia, Haiti, Honduras and Cuba, agreed in a joint statement to foster economic development through wide-ranging proposals, from preferential tariffs to cooperation in oil, gas and renewable energy.
They also committed to combating transnational crime and proposed “rethinking the international financial architecture” of the sovereign debt of middle-income countries, which would allow them to develop their economies and reduce the social inequalities that often lead people to migrate.
Southern European countries ask for a common strategy on migration
“The best way out is to build progress in the south”Colombian President Gustavo Petro told reporters following the discussion. “When these growing exoduses reach the north, be it Europe or the US, a certain mentality of great fear of difference, of racism, of xenophobia, in the relatively consumer societies of the north elects xenophobic politicians.”
The countries also called for a joint meeting between Cuba and the US to discuss their bilateral relationship amid heavy migration from the island nation. The Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, said that the country would be willing to meet with US authorities.
Translated by Bárbara Briceño.
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