Central American Leaders Hope to Develop Common Agenda with Biden

WASHINGTON – Washington’s immigration policy will focus on regional migration and its root causes, as well as the annulment of policies inherited from the Trump administration, according to White House officials.

President Joe Biden will make the announcement Tuesday, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during a daily briefing this week.

Representatives of the governments of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala envision more U.S. attention toward the region during the Biden administration and plan to support a common development agenda based on «mutual respect.»

President Biden told his Mexican counterpart, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, that Washington will address the containment of the irregular flow of migrants to Mexico and the United States, in part, through promoting economic development in Central America.

FILE – In this Dec. 18, 2020 file photo, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gives his daily, morning news conference at the presidential palace, Palacio Nacional, in Mexico City.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández told VOA that approach represents an “opportunity to retake” what the Obama administration was working on.

Guatemalan Foreign Minister Pedro Brolo told VOA that both countries have a “common agenda” beyond economic opportunities, including fighting increased organized crime and drug trafficking, and he plans to bring those issues to the table in future meetings.

Cooperation and mutual respect 

Ariel Ruíz Soto, an analyst at the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, said U.S. investment in the region is not enough.

The Northern Triangle countries need to show they are committed to solve the root causes of the immigration, including poverty and corruption, Ruiz Soto said. Bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress is also necessary to enact immigration reform, he added.

“The relationship has to change its tone. It is necessary to reopen the dialogue with Central America in order to once again have cooperation, not pressure,” Ruíz Soto told VOA.

Biden promised during his presidential campaign to allocate $4 billion to the Central American region and attack the issues that cause migration, including “endemic corruption,” poverty and economic insecurity.

FILE – Demonstrators with the New York Immigration Coalition rally asking President Joe Biden to prioritize immigration reform, Nov. 9, 2020, in New York.

Brolo indicated the three countries that make up the Northern Triangle will be more «attractive for foreign investment» to repair economies hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and last year’s natural disasters, including back-to-back hurricanes Eta and Iota.

“Our people would tend to migrate less, since they would have jobs,» he explained.

Brolo indicated the three countries that make up the Northern Triangle will be more «attractive for foreign investment» to repair economies hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and last year’s natural disasters, including back-to-back hurricanes Eta and Iota.

“Our people would tend to migrate less, since they would have jobs,» he explained.

Fuente de la Información: https://www.voanews.com/americas/central-american-leaders-hope-develop-common-agenda-biden