GUATEMALA CITY (AP) – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador began a five-day tour of four countries in Central America and Cuba on Thursday, attacking the US government.
Lopez Obrador has sharply criticized US officials for rushing to send billions to Ukraine while delaying Central American development aid.
At his first stop in neighboring Guatemala, Lopez Obrador called for US help to stop the poverty and unemployment that is sending tens of thousands of Guatemalans north to the US border. The Mexican leader was angry that the United States had rejected his calls to help expand his program to plant trees in Central America.
“They are different things and should not be compared categorically, but they have already approved $ 30 billion for the war in Ukraine, while we are waiting for President Donald Trump to donate $ 4 billion, and as of today nothing, absolutely nothing.” said Lopez Obrador.
“Honestly, it seems inexplicable,” he added. “For our part, we will continue to insist with respect on the need for the United States to cooperate.
Lopez Obrador’s pet program, known as “Planting Life”, pays farmers a monthly salary for planting and caring for fruit and wood trees on their farms.
Mexico has asked the US government to help fund the program, something that has not happened so far. Mexico is also advertising another program that apprentices young people in companies. Critics say both programs lack accountability.
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard wrote on his social media accounts that meetings with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giamatti and other officials focused on developing, migrating and strengthening bilateral ties.
Ebrard said Mexico is launching a tree program in the Guatemalan province of Chimaltenango.
This is only the third trip abroad in more than three years for Lopez Obrador, who likes to say that the best foreign policy is good domestic policy. The tour is an opportunity for Mexico to re-establish itself as a leader in Latin America and will be welcomed by some leaders under pressure from the US government and others because of their alleged anti-democratic tendencies.
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Both geographically and metaphorically, Mexico finds itself sandwiched between the United States and the rest of Latin America. Lopez Obrador has dismissed criticism of the Trump administration that his government is doing the dirty work of Washington in an attempt to stop migrants before they reach the US border.
Lopez Obrador will be accepted in Central America in part as an emissary to the United States when it comes to migration policy.
The US government is trying to build a consensus ahead of the US summit in Los Angeles in June to strengthen a regional approach to managing migration flows. In recent years, large numbers of Central Americans, but also Haitians, Cubans, Venezuelans, Colombians and migrants from other continents, have made their way across America.
The visit is an opportunity for Lopez Obrador to show some independence from the United States. Lopez Obrador criticized the US economic blockade of Cuba and said he had told US officials that no country should be excluded from the US summit. The Biden administration has signaled that Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua will not be invited.
Giammattei, meanwhile, has come under pressure from the US government to back down in the country’s fight against corruption, a campaign central to Lopez Obrador’s image in Mexico.
Lopez Obrador will continue to El Salvador, where President Naib Bukele faces international condemnation following a state of emergency following a jump in gang killings in late March.
The visit of Lopez Obrador, who prefers a “hugs rather than bullets” approach to security, is an opportunity to show that he is not isolated. El Salvador security forces have arrested more than 24,000 suspected gang members in just over a month, and human rights groups say there have been many arbitrary arrests.
In Honduras, new President Xiomara Castro has built close ties with the Biden administration. Last month, Honduras extradited former President Juan Orlando Hernandez on charges of drugs and weapons in the United States. Castro is desperate to activate the economy and create jobs, so he can be open to Lopez Obrador’s proposals if there is money behind it.
The president’s agenda in Belize is less clear, but his last stop in Cuba will be the most symbolic. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel visited Mexico for his independence celebrations last year.
Lopez Obrador ruled largely as a nationalist and populist, but politically positioned himself as a staunch leftist.
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