After initial discord, US President Biden and Mexican President López Obrador showed unity at the North American summit. But differences on the question of migration remain.

Mexico is considered a very hospitable country, and Joe Biden and his wife Jill were also warmly welcomed. Among others by a group of traditional mariachis. With big sombreros on their heads and bulbous guitars in their hands, some musicians played a little serenade.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was also particularly cordial when he received US President and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the start of the North American summit. He had already crunched in the bilateral talks between Biden and him: “It is time to put an end to the oblivion, the neglect and the contempt of Latin America and the Caribbean”, estimates the leftist politician.

Biden and Trudeau want a closer partnership

López Obrador has repeatedly called for increased financial support from the United States in the past. The objective: to reduce poverty in the region and distribute wealth more equitably. This is to fight against the causes of leakage. Biden countered that the United States had spent “tens of billions of dollars” in the region in the past 15 years alone.

However, Canada and the United States want closer economic and political cooperation: “We are and always will be stronger together,” said Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau. Biden has defended his migration policy. Compared to his predecessor Trump, he had relaxed many regulations. In the United States, this is attracting criticism.

Agreement between the United States and Mexico

Even before the North American summit, Biden had announced that, under certain conditions, he would issue temporary work visas to curb illegal immigration – 30,000 visas per month to people from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Mexico, in turn, takes in the same number of people per month that the United States deports – that’s the deal.

Biden and López Obrador need each other – despite some differences. Both are under domestic political pressure: more refugees are arriving at the US-Mexico border than they have been in a long time. More than two million people were arrested and deported in the US fiscal year 2022. Following the North American summit, the Mexican president again addressed kind words to Biden: “This is the first It’s been a long time since an American president has built a single meter of border wall,” the Mexican said. President. “And we thank you.”

Great symbolic meaning

The meeting of the three leaders was above all symbolic. They have repeatedly stressed their willingness to tackle the region’s problems together. In addition to the topic of migration, the heads of state and their delegations from the USA, Mexico and Canada also had climate protection and the joint free trade agreement on the agenda.