Name? Andrés Manuel López Obrador
Westphalian identity? Mexican
Age? 67
Why is he in the news? The President of Mexico recently reached an agreement with the US to increase enforcement against migration towards the US border. AMLO’s administration stated that Mexico will maintain 10000 troops at its southern border so as to double the number of migrants it stops from heading north. AMLO was not alone in such a statement as his counterparts in Honduras and Guatemala reached similar agreements.
Why do we care? As AMLO commented: “Expectations were created that with Biden’s government there would be a better treatment of migrants…causing Central American migrants to want to cross the border thinking that it is easier to do so.” Unfortunately, it seems that Biden’s many promises of immigration reform will not happen as quickly nor as drastically as Latin American migrants and leaders had hoped for.
Why should you care? Because migrants aren’t waiting for the Biden or AMLO administration anymore. The socio-economic effects of the pandemic alongside the humanitarian impact from two major hurricanes in Central America this past year are pushing a record number of migrants to the southern borders of both Mexico and the U.S. You should care 7/10 about the tens of thousands of migrants crossing borders without adequate protection against cartels.
Who else cares? US VP Kamala Harris. She is in charge of improving conditions in the Central American regions in the long term. These agreements with Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala are an early indicator as to whether Harris has the cooperation necessary to curtail migration and address its root causes. According to AMLO’s statement … not really.
Any further comments? Preventing flight by restricting movement is also a form of tackling migration. One could also help solve problems in countries of origin to prevent migration. But that would take time, resources and effort, however, that is contrary to the zeitgeist we are living in.
