Future president of Mexico and vice president of the United States talk about migration, drugs and the climate crisis

The future president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, and the vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris, spoke on Thursday about the need to deepen relations between both countries to address the immigration problemhe drug traffic and the global climate crisis.

The White House said in a statement that Harris and Sheinbaum held a telephone conversation in which they addressed some of the common problems that plague Mexico and the United States.

Both leaders highlighted the importance of women in leadership positions and committed to working together to address the global climate crisis and promote renewable energy.

Likewise, they spoke about deepening collaboration between both countries to address the causes of migration, strengthening commercial ties and economic growth, and combating human trafficking, illicit drugs and firearms.

Sheinbaum thanked Harris for the call and said in a brief message on her X account, formerly Twitter, that they shared the fact of having been the first women to be elected to their respective positions.

The phone call occurs two days after a meeting that Sheinbaum had with Liz Sherwood-Randall, advisor to the president of the United States, Joe Biden on national security, and with the US ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, with whom he spoke about migration, security and trade.

In relation to the immigration issue, Salazar told reporters on Thursday that migrants who do not opt ​​for a legal route to enter the United States will face consequences.

The ambassador reported that the number of migrants arriving at the border between the United States and Mexico has decreased since Biden launched changes last week aimed at make it difficult for asylum seekers to enter. But he did not specify by how much the number of migrants trying to cross the border irregularly has decreased.

On the other hand, the future president praised on Thursday the position of the assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs of the United States, Brian A. Nichols, on a judicial reform which the Mexican Congress will soon discuss and which has unleashed nervousness in the financial markets and the depreciation of the Mexican peso.

“There is nothing that they are against the reform of the judiciary,” Sheinbaum said in a press conference, referring to the statements that Nichols made on Wednesday before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Lower House where he indicated that Mexico is a sovereign country and has processes it can use to change its legal framework.

In his speech, the assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs stated that judicial transparency is “vital” for all investors and recalled that the reform of the judiciary must respect the provisions of protection for foreign investors provided for in the Trade Agreement between Mexico, United States and Canada.

“None of the investments are at risk,” said the future president, dismissing the concerns that the initiative on the judiciary has generated in the financial markets, which will be one of the five reforms that the new Congress will give priority to in September along with the projects on social programs and non-reelection.

In the last two weeks, local financial markets have faced great volatility, which has caused an 8% depreciation of the Mexican peso.

The pressures on the currency eased on Thursday after the statement made by the governor of the Bank of Mexico, Victoria Rodríguez, who announced the day before that the monetary organization could act if the peso showed atypical behavior or extreme volatility.

At the close of the day, the currency reached a price of 18.47 pesos per dollar, which represented an appreciation of around 1.95%. The capital market concluded the session with a loss of 1.28%.

The nervousness of the markets has been associated with the concern that investors have that the ruling Morena party, which would have won the majority of seats in the new Congress, will carry out a constitutional reform of the judicial system and other initiatives that could affect the independence of powers and autonomous organizations.

The initiative of the judiciary is part of a package of 20 laws that the outgoing president Andrés Manuel López Obrador presented last February and that the new Congress will begin to discuss in September. The project provides that the ministers of the Supreme Court, magistrates and judges will be elected by popular vote.

Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channels Youtube, WhatsApp and to the newsletter. Turn on notifications and follow us on Facebook, x and instagram.