Roberto Velasco: “We’re going to update the framework with the United States and Canada to respond to more epidemic threats.”

A meeting of Mexico, the United States and Canada in Washington last week left a number of important messages on restoring public vision in North America, including economic integration or cooperation to mitigate immigration. But one of the agreements sealed at the summit, The threat of a new omigron variant of Covit-19 is not yet known, Precisely strengthened the integration strategy against the epidemic. The delegations, led by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lpez Obrador, US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, pledged to improve the cooperation program created a decade ago in the face of the H1N1 influenza crisis. “We are going to update this framework so that we have a more flexible mechanism to respond to larger-scale threats in terms of epidemics and public health,” he explains with a view to the future. Roberto Velasco, Head of the North America Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In this week’s conversation via video conference with EL PAÍS. The officer reviews the milestones of the appointment, which are known in the dialect Three amygdala, It had not been celebrated for five years due to the indifference of former President Donald Trump. One of them is related to the health emergency and its economic consequences. At this and other points, the three countries have common goals. “There is a realignment of interests that we have discussed a lot between Canada and Mexico, and now with the United States. How can we get a higher production of vaccines In Mexico and Canada, it allows less exposure to vaccines from third countries, ”says Velasco. “What happened to epidemic management? We realized that the order was too short and directed to the flu, and that it was not enough to deal with a completely different epidemic, ”he added, referring to the corona virus.

All three governments agreed to continue working to “strengthen the supply chain of medical supplies and protect what we already have” and to mitigate the economic impact of the devastating Govt-19 after the Great Recession. T-MEC reaffirmed the need to deepen the commitment to regional cooperation under the umbrella of the Trade Agreement. “North America is reunited, with a common vision and plans to resume this tripartite dialogue in Mexico next year. Collaborator Marcelo Ebrader continues.

In short, Velasco summed up, “It is a progressive summit with three governments They have very similar aspirations and try to achieve very similar things: More social justice, more equity, more jobs, especially for the middle class and the most vulnerable groups. ” The approach defended by Lopez Obrador mixes economic challenges and migration. In the absence of specifics in the plan, the United States promised to invest in Central America through a program called Sembrando Aberdonidates, also known as Sembirando Vida, which was promoted by Mexico in the south of the country.

“Governments ‘desire to promote a humanitarian perspective on immigration and to promote economic integration that will have a broader impact on the three countries’ populations. Of course, ending this epidemic is costly for our countries, but especially for the most vulnerable groups,” Velasco stressed, highlighting Canada’s new involvement in the dialogue. “The commitment of the three countries is to open additional legal avenues for migration, to deepen temporary work programs such as existing agricultural programs with Canada and the United States, to see which sectors they can extend to, and, in general, how to order the migration flow.” According to the Mexican government, “there is one area that can not be ignored, that is, as long as there is a demand for labor, as long as there is a demand for immigrant activities, they are very important.

“Of course,” said the head of the North American division, adding that “there is still a lot to do, it’s a start and I want to see it as a pilot, not the general answer, but it’s already a definite one. Two countries can do it, analysis.” Lopez Obrador insisted at the beginning of the tripartite meeting on changing attitudes towards immigrants, but began. China’s trade boom warning. “Integration is a way of dealing with the rest of the world and must not lose momentum and stagnate. What the President is saying is the integration of the rival interests of each of the three countries,” Velasco points out, which also affects the geopolitical weight of the discourse, in other words, in the coming decade. Economic imbalances can occur. “If we do not take steps to integrate this and stimulate our economies, this economic imbalance will lead to another dimension of nature, war-like in nature.”

Security challenges were also discussed at the meeting without elaboration. In early October, Mexico and the United States signed a new agreement Two hundred years of understanding, It leaves the Merida initiative, which is George W. Bush. It is a project that has been helping millions of dollars since the Bush era. The project proposes a new approach that focuses on supporting the most affected communities in the fight against drug trafficking and consumption. “We announced a number of important things. For example, the Memorandum of Understanding on Drugs and Mental Health is one of the two Memorandums of Understanding. It is true that there will now be special envoys from Mexico on arms smuggling in the United States and a bilateral task force on the border to work on arms smuggling and related crimes, ”Velasco said. “This is a lesson that we need a lot more things, but we are working at full speed,” he says.

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