“The time has come to end this oblivion, this abandonment, this contempt for Latin America and the Caribbean, which contradicts the policy of good neighborliness launched by the (late American) giant of freedom Franklin Roosevelt,” Lopez Obrador told reporters, addressing Biden.
He added, “President Biden, you hold the key to opening and significantly improving relations between all countries of the American continent.”
How did Biden respond?
The US President tried to defend his country’s policy, in response to the statements of his Mexican counterpart, and said:
• “Just over the past 15 years have we spent billions of dollars in the Western Hemisphere, tens of billions of dollars.”
• “The United States provides more foreign aid than all other countries combined.”
• “Unfortunately, our responsibility does not stop at the borders of the Western Hemisphere, as it includes Central Europe, Asia, Africa and Southeast Asia.”
Biden is in Mexico to attend the “Three Friends” summit, which will be joined by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
This is Biden’s first official visit to Mexico, nearly two years after he took office.
Earlier Sunday, Biden headed to the border between the United States and Mexico for the first time since assuming the presidency, to visit El Paso, the transit point in Texas that is at the center of the controversy over illegal immigration and drug trafficking.
In addition to the thorny immigration file, Biden’s visit to Mexico is overshadowed by the tragedy of the synthetic drug fentanyl, which is fifty times stronger than heroin, and is supervised by Mexican gangs based on chemical components imported from China, according to the US Drug Enforcement Agency.
The Mexican president had announced that he wanted to address with Biden the “roots of the immigration problem”, as well as the investments Mexico made in El Salvador and Honduras to urge those wishing to emigrate to change their minds and stay in the two countries.
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