WASHINGTON — One month after snubbing President Biden by refusing to attend a summit meant to point out American management, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico joined Mr. Biden on the White House on Tuesday to shore up a relationship the United States must sluggish mass migration and bolster financial ties.
The notability of Mr. López Obrador’s mere presence alongside Mr. Biden underscored how awkward an already complicated relationship between the United States and Mexico has grow to be. Mr. López Obrador skipped out on Mr. Biden’s Summit of the Americas final month after criticizing the United States for not inviting Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. He has additionally challenged the United States on vitality insurance policies, drug enforcement and the prosecution of Julian Assange.
The two leaders sought to reaffirm a partnership they each agreed was crucial to handle international inflation amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, migration and the surge in fentanyl trafficking. But Mr. López Obrador additionally appeared to point there was nonetheless pressure between the administrations.
The Mexican president, who seldom passes up a chance to poke the Biden administration, at one level talked about how Americans residing alongside the border have crossed into Mexico for gasoline at decrease costs amid hovering inflation.
“In spite of our differences and also in spite of our grievances that are not really easy to forget with time or with good wishes,” Mr. López Obrador mentioned, many occasions “we’ve been able to coincide and we’ve been able to work together as good friends and true allies.”
In a roughly 30-minute response to Mr. Biden’s temporary opening remarks, Mr. López Obrador at occasions gave the impression to be giving a historical past lecture, slightly than a coverage framework, citing the partnership between the 2 international locations underneath President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal insurance policies.
“We had circumstances that were quite similar to our existing circumstances,” he mentioned. “And from those policies, we should be extracting good lessons.”
Mr. López Obrador additionally touched on one in every of Mr. Biden’s best political vulnerabilities: excessive gasoline costs. After telling Mr. Biden he hoped “that Congress approves or passes” proposals to decrease gasoline costs, Mr. Biden retorted, “It has gone down for 30 days in a row.”
The Mexican president additionally famous that Americans have been crossing the border to purchase gasoline, saying it’s a greenback cheaper. He didn’t notice that it prices much less in Mexico as a result of the federal government subsidizes home gasoline costs with cash it makes from the crude oil it produces.
Mr. Biden’s aides insist the connection between the 2 leaders is productive. Despite not attending Mr. Biden’s summit in June, Mexico did help a declaration accomplished throughout the gathering that dedicated to cooperating on increasing authorized pathways for overseas employees, investing in border safety, tackling smuggling networks and addressing record-high unlawful migration.
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“We see Mexico as an equal partner,” Mr. Biden mentioned on Tuesday in remarks lasting slightly below 10 minutes, noting the necessity to strengthen the economic system and method migration north “as a shared hemispheric challenge.”
Throughout his presidency, Mr. Biden has harassed the necessity to collaborate with Mexico and Central American nations to handle the basis causes of migration and deter hovering unlawful border crossings — a humanitarian disaster that has challenged his White House. In latest years, a majority of migrants crossing the border have been Mexicans, a shift from a lot of the Obama and Trump administrations when Central Americans entered the United States in file numbers.
Mexico agreed to buy as much as 20,000 tons of milk powder from the United States to help households in rural and concrete communities, in addition to a million tons of U.S. fertilizer, in accordance with a press release from the National Security Council. Mr. Biden additionally credited Mr. López Obrador “for also stepping up” to subject visas for Central American migrants to work in Mexico.
Mr. Biden added that each the United States and Mexico would spend money on up to date infrastructure alongside the border. The nations are working to enhance know-how alongside port entries to higher detect narcotics, in addition to surveillance towers and sensors to assist border brokers monitor unlawful crossings, in accordance with a senior administration official. While the Trump administration invested billions of {dollars} to assemble lots of of miles of bodily border wall, Mr. Biden campaigned on investing in know-how to discourage such crossings.
The White House highlighted on Tuesday that Mexico would make investments $1.5 billion in infrastructure alongside the border, noting former President Donald J. Trump’s unfulfilled promise to make Mexico pay for the wall. The funds will probably be used to enhance know-how on the Mexican aspect of the border that may detect contraband, in accordance with an individual acquainted with the matter.
Mr. Biden, noting the deaths of 51 migrants who have been discovered trapped in an deserted truck in San Antonio, additionally mentioned the 2 nations wanted to intercept smugglers encouraging migrants to cross the border. The administration started an anti-smuggling initiative with different nations that has resulted in roughly 3,000 arrests since April, he mentioned.
“We need every country in the region to join us,” Mr. Biden mentioned.
Mr. López Obrador cited the growth of non permanent work visas for Mexicans and Central Americans as one of the efficient methods to encourage authorized immigration. During the summit final month, Mexico dedicated to offering non permanent work for not less than 15,000 Guatemalans, whereas the United States mentioned it will dedicate $65 million in grants to agricultural employers that rent farmers from Central American nations.
Andrew Selee, the president of the Migration Policy Institute, a analysis institute in Washington, lauded the trouble however mentioned implementation would most definitely take time.
“It’s slow going because they need employers to want to go recruit in Central America and they need to make it as easy for them to process the visas,” he mentioned.
Mr. Selee mentioned the 2 leaders have been most likely extra targeted on addressing the migration and financial woes affecting each of their nations, slightly than Mr. López Obrador’s absence on the summit.
In some methods, Mr. López Obrador’s relationship with Mr. Biden is extra complicated than the one he had with Mr. Trump, who threatened to impose tariffs on Mexico earlier than finally gaining the nation as a vital ally for his border insurance policies.
Despite Mr. López Obrador’s efforts to champion himself as an advocate for migrants, he additionally agreed to adjust to U.S. insurance policies that empowered American border brokers to quickly flip migrants again to Mexico. In change, Mr. Trump principally avoided urgent him on home issues.
Mr. Biden has returned to a broader method, one the place the United States pursues nationwide pursuits whereas additionally emphasizing the necessity to counter corruption and make sure the safety of human rights. He is, nevertheless, simply as reliant on Mexico to discourage migration, giving Mr. López Obrador important leverage. For a lot of this 12 months, the administration continued to lean on restrictive Trump-era insurance policies that rely on cooperation with Mexico.
The pressure between the governments has existed since Mr. Biden was elected, when Mr. López Obrador initially refused to acknowledge his victory. The Mexican president has additionally pursued vitality insurance policies that jeopardize American funding within the sector, prompting the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to precise in March “serious concerns with the deteriorating trajectory of Mexico’s energy policies.”
In latest weeks, Mr. López Obrador has continued to lash out on the administration, criticizing the American authorities for bringing espionage prices in opposition to Mr. Assange. The British authorities approved Mr. Assange’s extradition to the United States final month.
Mr. López Obrador vowed to “start a campaign to tear down the Statue of Liberty” if Mr. Assange is “sentenced to the maximum penalty” within the United States.
“There shouldn’t be selfishness between countries, peoples that are neighbors and friends,” Mr. López Obrador mentioned towards the top of his remarks. “President Biden,” he added, “we trust you because you respect our sovereignty.”
Mr. Biden responded by noting that his counterpart had “a lot of important things to say.”
“The thrust of what you’re saying, we agree with,” he mentioned. “We need to work closer together.”
Natalie Kitroeff contributed reporting from Mexico City.
