Mexican National Guard played a key role in ‘a successful deployment’
The government reduced migration through Mexico to the United States border by 56% between May and August, Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said on Friday.
Ebrard told reporters at the presidential press conference that the reduction in the number of migrants “is a result of diverse measures that the government has taken in compliance with Mexican immigration law.”
They include the deployment of the National Guard to step up enforcement against undocumented migrants, a measure to which Mexico agreed in June as part of a deal with the United States to end a threat to impose tariffs on all Mexican goods.
The number of people detained by the U.S. at its southern border dropped from 144,266 in May to 63,989 in August, according to information presented to reporters.
Ebrard said that 25,451 National Guardsmen have been deployed to the north and south of the country to stem the flow of undocumented migrants, highlighting that there have only been seven official complaints about their operation.
“The National Guard has participated in a very distinguished way…We only have seven complaints at the [National] Human Rights Commission. In other words, it’s a successful deployment,” he said.
Ebrard said that 2,186 migrants traveling in semi-trailers towards the northern border have been “rescued” and that more than 1,000 people have been charged with human trafficking or people smuggling offenses.
The foreign secretary also spoke about the implementation of Mexico’s development plan in Central America.
With limited resources, Mexico has shown that jobs can be created in countries such as Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, Ebrard said. Job creation “is better than any other policy” to reduce migration, he added.
President López Obrador pledged in July to give US $90 million a year in development aid to the three Northern Triangle countries of Central America, where Mexico is supporting reforestation programs that are expected to generate tens of thousands of jobs.
López Obrador has consistently argued that stimulating economic and social development in Central America and southern Mexico is the best way to reduce migration to the United States.
Ebrard, who will discuss Mexico’s efforts to curb migration with United States officials in Washington D.C. next week, said the government is committed to supporting development in the region long term.
“Mexico will continue this strategy. I don’t expect a [new] tariff threat because there is a [migration] reduction of 56 percent. We urge the government of the United States to support Mexico’s [development] strategy,” he said.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, President Trump thanked Mexico, the Mexican government and the “great president of Mexico for helping us” to reduce migration.
“They’re helping us in a very big way. Far bigger than anybody thought even possible,” he said.
As part of the bilateral agreement struck in June, Mexico also agreed to accept the return of all asylum seekers that passed through the country as they await the outcome of their claims in the United States.
Official U.S. data on illegal crossings at the Mexico-United States border will be released next week, acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan said.
Source: Notimex (sp), Milenio (sp).
AMLO celebrates sweeping away the corruption of the past 30 years
Five presidents used their time in office to loot the wealth, charges Mexico’s López Obrador
President López Obrador has declared that there is “zero corruption” in the federal government as a result of his dedication to “sweeping away” what has developed over the past 30 years.
Speaking at an event on Friday at the Matehuala Rural Hospital in San Luis Potosí, López Obrador railed against his predecessors, declaring that the past five presidents from Carlos Salinas de Gortari to Enrique Peña Nieto used their time in office to loot the country’s wealth.
On the same day as he denounced the excessive spending of the Peña Nieto government on supplies for the presidential plane, the leftist leader accused past presidents of reckless extravagance, claiming that they squandered public money on things such as luxury toilet paper and overseas junkets.
López Obrador also took aim at past governments’ “forgiveness” of the tax debt of large companies and the nation’s wealthy, charging that public coffers were deprived of 400 billion pesos (US $20.5 billion) in revenue during the administrations of Peña Nieto and Felipe Calderón alone.
“A famous bank didn’t pay taxes while farmers, doctors, nurses and workers did,” the president said.
Under his administration, tax debt forgiveness has been eradicated, López Obrador declared using a colorful colloquialism to make his point.
“There is zero corruption” in the cabinet and government departments, the president said, adding that citizens now need to follow his example and put an end to – or “sweep away” – the “cancer” that afflicts Mexico more broadly.
López Obrador cited his government’s crackdown on fuel theft as one of the big challenges it inherited from past administrations, which he claimed tacitly approved the crime and even factored in the revenue losses it caused.
The president claimed that on his watch, petroleum theft has declined 95% from 80,000 barrels per day to 4,000.
As a result, 50 billion pesos (US $2.6 billion) that would have been lost had theft levels remained the same will flow into government coffers, López Obrador said, pointing out that the amount is higher than the entire annual budget of the state of San Luis Potosí.
Source: Milenio (sp)
