Mexico City, Mexico — The request for resources from the United States to address the causes of migration is not blackmail, clarified Mexico’s President AMLO.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says that contrary to what was reported in some U.S. media, the request made by the Government of Mexico to allocate 20 billion dollars annually to address the causes is not blackmail.
His comment was made Thursday morning regarding the request for U.S. funding for the migration issues in Latin American and Caribbean countries.
“I have been suggesting to the President of the United States that people be helped because migration does not happen out of pleasure, but out of necessity. People have to make a living and they go to the United States with that purpose, but if in their places of origin they had job opportunities and there was well-being, then they would not want to leave,” he explained.
López Obrador reiterated that the budget would help reduce the migratory flow and the risks to which people are exposed during their transit.
“There (in the U.S.) they say – I have already heard it not only during President Trump’s government but also with President Biden – that this does not solve the problem because the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean are very corrupt and it is a waste of money, but it is as an excuse as a pretext to not help,” he said.
The president recalled that Mexico has made other proposals to the United States that would contribute to improving the living conditions of migrants such as the regularization of Mexicans who have been living and working honestly in the United States for more than five years and of the DACA youth, known as dreamers, in addition to the non-repression against fellow citizens.
