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This Tuesday, US President Joe Biden received his counterpart, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, at the White House. The Mexican president emphasized the need to work together with the US government on issues of border security, drug and arms trafficking. In addition, he proposed opening the Mexican energy market to US investment.
By Marilyn Washingwith information from our correspondent in Washington, Xavier Villa.
During his visit to Washington on Tuesday, July 12, the Mexican president urged his US counterpart to undertake an aggressive program to resolve the migration problem that affects the two countries.
He challenged him to leave behind the status quo on the border based on two fundamental points that López Obrador already advanced to a group of enthusiastic followers who were waiting for him at the door of the White House. “First, that the migratory flow be ordered so that our migrants do not suffer, human rights are not violated. And second, that those who are already here and have been working honestly for years, have their rights recognized,” said AMLO.
He highlighted the need for an expansion of work visas for Mexicans. A request that would be very difficult for the Biden government to fulfill, estimates Rodrigo Montes de Oca, of the Center for Studies for the United States and Mexico of the Baker Institute.
“The Mexican president does not have a good climate in the United States Congress. To extend these visas, it is necessary to go through this legislative route”, he details for RFI. He adds, however, that a middle ground can be found that benefits both parties. “Both have little time left in the presidency to achieve more inclusive immigration reform. The only thing that can be achieved is an extension of temporary visas for the agrarian sector”, he explains.
energy concessions
Joe Biden asked for patience in undertaking these requests in the face of the staunch US conservative opposition, while López Obrador proposed five basic points of cooperation, which in addition to immigration include joint work to combat inflation by supplying gasoline and gas pipelines from south to north, suspending tariffs, and strengthen markets.
On the economic issue, Montes de Oca points out that the Mexican president’s speech was one of opening up to the US markets when in previous years he defended a nationalist strategy.
“It is a bit contrary to AMLO’s style, I was surprised for the better that he brought such a specific proposal. What he was offering at first was as a bargaining chip for the US president to commit himself more to immigration reform. We know that the Mexican president has a highly nationalistic energy agenda. The United States Congress has filed many complaints about discrimination against American companies,” he says.
In definite accounts, the two presidents showed a conciliatory tone after their resounding disagreement last June, when López Obrador declined to attend the Summit of the Americas organized by Biden in Los Angeles due to the absence of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
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