Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador challenged President Biden for his “forgetfulness” to help Latin American countries during the North American Leaders Summit on Monday. He also encouraged him to prioritize the solution to the immigration crisis that affects the border between the United States and Mexico.
While public comments were mostly positive in tone, López Obrador pressed Biden for his “abandonment” and “forgetfulness” to help Central American countries.
“This is the moment for us to decide to put an end to this abandonment, this disdain and this forgetfulness of Latin America and the Caribbean,” López Obrador said during a press conference on Monday.
López Obrador also said that Biden had the “key” to improve life in the region.
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United States President Joe Biden speaks during a message to the media as part of the ‘2023’ North American Leaders Summit at the National Palace January 10, 2023 in Mexico City, Mexico .
(Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
“You have the key in your hand,” said the Mexican president about the US president.
By Tuesday, López Obrador’s comments were more positive, as he praised Biden for not building “not one meter of a wall,” a clear reference to Biden’s predecessor, former President Donald Trump.
Still, López Obrador urged Biden to “insist” that Congress make further accommodations to allow undocumented Mexican immigrants to work in industries where American employers have a hard time hiring.
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United States President Joe Biden shakes hands with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador during a welcome ceremony at the National Palace (Palacio Nacional) in Mexico City, on January 9, 2023.
(NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty Images)
President Joe Biden, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the 10th North American Leaders Summit at the National Palace in Mexico City, Tuesday, May 10. January 2023.
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
The President of Mexico also spoke at length about his country’s efforts to help limit the flow of fentanyl into the US. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that has become the leading cause of drug overdose deaths in the United States. Joined.
“We are fighting fentanyl, these chemicals, and we are doing it because we care. No human being is foreign to us,” she said. “We really care about being able to help with what’s going on in the United States, the fentanyl deaths. But also as we discussed today, it’s not just a problem for the United States, because if we don’t confront this problem, this scourge, we’re going to suffer it too. So we have to act in a coordinated way.”
Biden, López Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met Monday and Tuesday for the North American Leaders Summit, where the three world leaders shared their joint goals for global trade, managing large waves of migrants entering the region and support for Ukraine.
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They also discussed managing energy issues and semiconductor production, reducing the impacts of climate change, committing to reduce methane emissions, and forming a more cohesive regional strategy to address future climate-related health threats. the pandemic.
“The three of us are true partners,” Biden said Tuesday at a joint press conference in Mexico City. He also said that they each shared a “genuine like” for each other.
“We share a common vision for the future, based on common values,” Biden added.
President Joe Biden, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau embrace during a press conference at the 10th North American Leaders Summit at the National Palace in the City of Mexico, Tuesday, January 10, 2023.
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
United States President Joe Biden, left, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, second from left, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pose for an official photo at the National Palace of the Mexico City, Tuesday, January 10, 2023.
(AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Despite the praise, the leaders have found themselves at odds in the past year.
The United States is urging Trudeau and Canada to help lead an international mission to Haiti to help resolve an ongoing security and humanitarian crisis.
“We need to make sure that the solutions are driven by the people of Haiti themselves,” Trudeau said Tuesday, calling the situation “heartbreaking”.
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Additionally, the US and Mexico continue to strategize on how best to deal with the influx of migrants seeking access to the United States.
Many of these migrants, mostly from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela, have been forced to wait at the US-Mexico border as Title 42, a Trump-era immigration policy, is about to to expire.
While the Biden administration continues to claim the border is “secure,” the US Customs and Border Protection has reported that there were more than 2.3 million encounters with migrants in fiscal year 2022 alone.
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This number exceeds the then-historic 1.7 million found in fiscal year 2021. So far in fiscal year 2023, which began in October, encounters with migrants are surpassing the same period last year.
Adam Sabes of Fox News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
