By Alejandra Garcia on May 19, 2024
Migrants continue their journey north in hopes of reaching the U.S. border, in Tapachula, Chiapas on the Guatemalan border, photo: AP
The common border between Mexico and Guatemala, with the Suchiate River as its natural boundary, is facing record migration flows, with an increase of almost 200 percent in irregular migrants intercepted in the first quarter of this year in the Aztec country.
In a historic meeting held in the city of Tapachula, in the Mexican state of Chiapas,on Friday, Mexican President Manuel López Obrador and Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo sealed commitments to mutual aid and to build a border that “does not separate” the two countries.
The Mexican president said that there is “a project that would be extraordinary: to be able to bring those who visit Guatemala and southeastern Mexico closer by joining the region of Flores (Guatemala) with Campeche (Mexico). There is Tikal (Guatemala) and on the Mexican side Calakmul, two beautiful, splendid cities of the classic Mayan”.
“We need to solve, without affecting the jungle, the communication between Flores and the limits of Mexico, in Campeche to be able to leave in the Mayan Train to the Caribbean, Cancun, to go around the entire Yucatan peninsula (…) there is not a region in the world with such cultural and artistic richness as this one where we are, it is the place where the great Mayan civilization flourished”, added Lopez Obrador.
The meeting was the first one between the two leaders since Arevalo took office on January 14, and came shortly after a regional summit in Guatemala City, in which the United States also participated. At the meeting, work priorities were defined on migration, a vital issue in the region.
Both presidents released a joint declaration in which they pledged to address crucial issues such as security, rail connectivity, and attention to migrants. The Guatemalan president emphasized that his country is prepared to work for the “great millenary brotherhood” that exists between both peoples.
In terms of migration, both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to address the causes and support communities of origin from a hemispheric and human rights perspective. They highlighted that Mexico’s Sembrando Vida program, implemented in Guatemala, has benefited 14,000 citizens, 63% of whom are women, with a contribution of US$20 million. Other agreements include the promotion of trade and the development of an integrated border, among other relevant issues.
Nearly 400,000 migrants cross the border into Mexico each year, where the obstacles begin for thousands of Central Americans fleeing violence, poverty and hunger as they attempt to pass the last official barrier before reaching U.S. territory. Violence, abuse, kidnappings and extortion accompany the journey northward with commonality.
The Geneva-based International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimated that 80 percent of Guatemalan migrants heading to the U.S. travel overland. Once there, the vast majority of those who manage to settle in the U.S. do so under the perpetual threat of detention and expulsión, not to mention the racism and demonization as they take on the hardest and most dangerous and lowest paying jobs.
The IOM has also warned that the number of unaccompanied women and children trying to reach the United States is increasing every year and the risks are greater in that dividing line between Guatemala and Mexico; a wavering line of almost 1,000 kilometers, where gangs involved in drug trafficking and organized crime are dominant.
For this reason, at the meeting in Tapachula, held on May 17, the presidents instructed the security agencies of both countries to carry out joint and immediate actions. Priority will be given to issues such as the fight against drug trafficking and smuggling of migrants, through initiatives aimed at prevention, prosecution, and exchange of information to strengthen security on the common border.
This meeting not only marks a milestone in bilateral cooperation, but also opens a window for future joint efforts to improve the lives of citizens of both countries. The greatest beneficiaries will be those who live in the Central American nation that, as Nobel Prize winner Miguel Ángel Asturias, remembered in this meeting, wrote: “Guatemala is not a country; it is a landscape that hurts, a passion that does not pass, a hope that does not die.”
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – English