Mexican president hopes to convince U.S. about reforestation in Central America

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, hopes that the meeting this Friday, May 7, with the vice-president of the United States, Kamala Harris, will serve to attract investments to Central America together with his star reforestation program, Sembrando Vida.

Questioned by the press minutes before his virtual meeting, scheduled for 9 AM local time, López Obrador indicated a “perfect relationship” with the US Government, headed by President Joe Biden.

Regarding the meeting with Harris, he said that the United States seeks to “work together” to “address the causes, that the problem is not solved with coercive measures and that we must promote development in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and southern Mexico,” he said.

SEEDING LIFE

In this regard, the president assured that his government is investing “as never before” in the southeast of Mexico.

“It is the same thing we believe should be done in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. And this can be carried out if we reach an agreement and there is cooperation,” added the president.

He said he would explain in “considerable detail” his proposal to export the Sembrando Vida program to “invest” in Central America to plant trees. In Mexico, the program consists of planting one million hectares, and 420,000 planters are already working.

The president added that if this program is “expanded” and supported with “resources that go directly to the farmers”, 1.2 million jobs could be created “in a short time” in the three Central American countries with the most emigration: Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

“And this is also accompanied by the commitment of the United States to extend temporary work visas. And that later on, with time, even residency or dual nationality for people from Central America could be recognized,” he stressed.

López Obrador already presented this project to U.S. President Joe Biden at the Climate Leaders Summit on April 22.

But this Friday the meeting will be for an hour and “I will also try to explain more about the Sembrando Vida program and the Jóvenes Construyendo el Futuro program (for young apprentices)”.

“I already gave {Biden) an explanation when we talked the first time about this topic (on April 7), but now I want to go into more detail so that he understands that it is an option; it is an excellent alternative,” he stressed.

Currently, both the reforestation and youth scholarship programs are already being applied in Honduras and El Salvador. This week, it was agreed to take them to Guatemala as well. But the investment is lower, and for this reason, López Obrador is seeking support from the United States.

BIDEN AND MIGRATION

López Obrador saw it as positive that Vice President Kamala Harris was appointed to be in charge of regional migration because “it shows that she cares and does not avoid the problem, she faces it”.