the president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Alejandro Giammattei agreed to modernize the customs infrastructure of Mexico and Guatemalain order to increase the passage of merchandise, tourists, vehicles and means of transport between both countries.
During the start of his first official international tour in Guatemala, President López Obrador stressed that both countries face common problems that can only be resolved with respect for their sovereignty and under the principle of non-intervention.
He recognized that “the common root of the main problems that afflict us is the same: poverty, inequality, the prostration of the countryside, social disintegration, marginalization and the historical denial of effective rights for the majority. These are the circumstances that give rise to migration and delinquency, addictions and violence. The other side of the coin is development and social peace”.
In a message to the media together with President Alejandro Giammattei in the Patio de la Vida of the National Palace of Culture of Guatemala, López Obrador said that without the desire to impose solutions and intervene in internal affairs, his government finances in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras the Sowing Life and Youth Building Life programs, with the purpose of helping to reduce migration.
“It is essential that the United States provide the necessary resources, and on several occasions I have addressed the issue with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, I am convinced that only with international cooperation can we put an end to the painful phenomenon of migration”, said.
However, López Obrador lamented: “We have been four times, since President Donald Trump was there, proposing that (the United States) support itself with 4,000 million dollars and to this day there is nothing, absolutely nothing.”
The president of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei, thanked López Obrador for the provision of resources from the Mexican government for citizens of his country through the Sowing Life and Youth Building the Future programs.
He stated that his government will continue to dialogue with the government of López Obrador and with the state governments of the border with Mexico on development issues in the border area.
Subsequently, the agreements reached by both countries were disseminated. They celebrated the formalization of the Crossing Point for the passage of Cargo within the Ingenieros – Nuevo Orizaba Border Crossing and welcomed the agreement to grant it a commercial vocation. They agreed to encourage a greater commercial flow through the other existing border crossings.
They instructed the competent authorities to expand the commercial vocation to allow the transit of heavy cargo in La Mesilla-Ciudad Cuauhtémoc under the figure of joint operations with the support of Mexico for the use of its facilities.
Mexico welcomed the fact that Guatemala has started the construction of its Bicentennial Customs, and considered that this additional crossing point could work under the modality of joint operations.
They will hold a Ministerial Conference on Migration
Regarding migration, both leaders confirmed their interest in continuing efforts to promote safe, orderly, regular and circular migration, under a perspective of co-responsibility and full respect for human rights in all phases of the migration cycle.
In this sense, they welcomed the initiative of Mexico to seek alternatives to increase the number of issues of the Regional Visitor Card (TVR), as well as the Border Worker Visitor Card (TVTF) so that, with these migratory documents the economy in the border communities is stimulated. Both countries expressed their willingness to disseminate information about both cards, in order to broaden their reach.
Mexico reiterated its commitment to the right to identity and social security of border workers from Guatemala, by having simplified the issuance of the Single Code of the Population Registry (CURP) as of April 26, a requirement for affiliation to the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS). Based on the foregoing, employers in the border area can guarantee the right to social security for Guatemalan workers from the first day they are hired, to the benefit of their families and the regional economy that receives them from the Mexican side.
Finally, they agreed to promote the holding, during the second half of 2022, of a Ministerial Conference on Migration, with the aim of promoting an action plan that addresses the structural causes of irregular migration and includes concrete actions for development.