(Washington) The United States and Mexico begin a series of high-level meetings on Friday, in the midst of a migration crisis along their common border of several thousand kilometers.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due to receive his Mexican counterpart Alicia Barcena in Washington, accompanied by Commerce officials, as part of the annual “economic dialogue” between the two countries.
Then, he will travel to Mexico City next Thursday for discussions focused this time around security issues, alongside Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland, according to the State Department.
No meeting with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has been announced at this stage.
These discussions come as hundreds, if not thousands, of people cross the U.S.-Mexico border every day after a dangerous and harrowing journey through several countries including Venezuela, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.
The US Border Patrol officially recorded 1.8 million migrant crossings at its southern border between October 2022 and August 2023.
Faced with the influx of migrants, who are “overwhelming” Mexico, the Mexican president called for “help” from his American counterpart Joe Biden and hoped for a soon meeting, the head of the UN said last week. Mexican diplomacy.
PHOTO ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Members of the National Guard watch as migrants head to a processing area after crossing the Rio Grande into Eagle Pass, Texas, on September 24.
Another crisis should be at the center of discussions, that of synthetic opiates.
Nearly 110,000 Americans died last year from overdoses, mostly from fentanyl.
U.S. authorities say much of the fentanyl comes from Mexican drug cartels that use precursor chemicals from China.
In mid-September, Mexico extradited Ovidio Guzman, one of the sons of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, to the United States.
His father, “El Chapo” Guzman, founder of the Sinaloa cartel, is currently serving a life sentence in the United States.
The US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) accuses this cartel of being the main player in fentanyl trafficking.