A smiling Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States, was waiting shortly before 9:00 on Tuesday at the door of her residence, on the grounds of the Washington Naval Observatory, for the Mexican President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who is on an official visit. in the city invited by Joe Biden. Both politicians exhibited a harmony that they did not hesitate to define as “friendship” on their third date in a year and a half.
During breakfast this Tuesday, it was planned, according to sources from the vice president’s office, that both would address “the fundamental causes of Central American migration and the association of Mexico in this priority,” and that they would discuss “assistance cooperation for the development that the two countries began after Harris’ visit to Mexico City in June 2021. On that visit, they signed a memorandum of understanding by which both countries committed to improving conditions in Central America to contain the flow of migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador from the outset. In addition, among other agreements, the two governments revived the High-Level Economic Dialogue (DEAN), a platform suspended by Donald Trump, and which serves as an extension for the investment tools of the North American Free Trade Agreement (T-MEC).
”I am very happy with this meeting. She is our friend, but she is also a woman with principles, honest, a supporter of equality. I congratulate the American people for having a first-rate vice president,” López Obrador told the press in a dialogue aided by two translators. “It is an honor to receive you in my home. The time we have spent together in Mexico was very special to me”, said Harris from the steps of the elegant mansion, before going to breakfast. “I would like to welcome you and continue our relationship based on traditions and friendship.” The vice president traveled to the neighboring country in March of last year. They met again when López Obrador attended the White House summit in November of the group known as the Three Amigos, which brings together the North American countries (United States, Mexico and Canada) to discuss issues of joint interest in the region.
After his visit to Harris, López Obrador will be seen in the Oval Office with the president of the United States, Joe Biden. It is the second time they have met in person, after they both spoke on the phone for the first time in March 2021. In 2020, López Obrador visited his predecessor, Donald Trump, with whom he had a good relationship.
One of the issues on the table this Tuesday will be the temporary visa program for migrants (especially those for temporary non-agricultural workers), among other issues related to the border between the two countries. “Police cooperation to interrupt the flow of fentanyl”, the promotion of “clean energy, economic innovation and prosperity” or “food security” will also be on the agenda, according to a senior official from the the White House. López Obrador warned on Monday in his daily appearance with the press that inflation would be addressed.
López Obrador arrived on Monday on a commercial flight to the capital of the United States, where he is staying in a hotel and not, as usual, in the residence of the ambassador, Esteban Moctezuma, on leave due to coronavirus. The president is accompanied by his wife, Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller, and a delegation that includes the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marcelo Ebrard, who is scheduled to give a press conference at the Embassy at the end of the day. López Obrador’s plan will be completed by a visit to the monuments to Martin Luther King and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933-1945).
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