by (CNN Spanish) –– Claudia Sheinbaum, candidate for the presidency of Mexico for the ruling Let’s Make History coalition, says that she does not want to have a relationship of subordination with the United States, but rather one of equals, in which coordination and cooperation for development prevail, in case to win the presidential election.
How do you address the migration crisis and the economic relationship between both countries in your campaign proposal?
This is how Sheinbaum proposes facing the immigration crisis
In one of the main issues that guide the relationship between both countries, that of migration, the Morena candidate believes that we will have to continue insisting with the United States and Canada to have legal migration, because the northern countries need labor, he said at a press conference in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, on March 2.
The number of people who want to cross illegally across the southern border of the United States continues to increase. According to data from the Customs and Border Protection Office of that country, during 2021, 1,743,686 encounters by authorities with migrants were recorded, while in 2022 that number rose to 2,378,944 and in 2023 there was another increase to 2,475. .669.
In early February, Republicans in the United States Senate blocked a bipartisan agreement on immigration, which included border security points and the foreign aid package for Ukraine and Israel.
Sheinbaum stressed that he will insist, above all, that the best way, the one that solves the problem in the long term, is to invest in the places where the people who migrate come from.
“That will be and will continue to be our position, which is cooperation for development. That there is support for Mexico, but mainly for Central America and other countries where there is migration to reach the United States,” said the candidate who was supported by President López Obrador.
Sheinbaum assures that Mexico already supports young people from El Salvador and Honduras with programs such as Sembrando Vida. However, she emphasizes that “the United States can support more” and reach many more young people in Central America so that they do not have to emigrate. “It will be much more economical than building the wall, than fences… much more economical than any other form of border patrols, and it also addresses the underlying issue,” he said in Ciudad Juárez.
The candidate took the opportunity to send a message to the candidates for the presidency of the United States. He said that whoever is elected in November, “we will always be defending our country, our sovereignty, that they do not use Mexico as part of the elections, and that they rather seek a relationship of coordination, cooperation with the people of Mexico, with his government.”
In his document “100 steps to transformation,” Sheinbaum says that the rights of countrymen working in the United States will be “protected and defended.”
“There will always be good will for coordination, but it is up to us to also demand respect for our sovereignty, for the Mexicans on both sides of the border. Coordination yes, subordination no. We will never bow our heads,” he stated during his speech in the Zócalo of Mexico City, during the formal start of his campaign on March 1.
Economy: the business relocation plan
Regarding the scope of the economy between the two countries, in his press conference in Ciudad Juárez, Sheinbaum highlighted the issue of nearshoring or the relocation of companies. He assured that it should be used to go beyond being a maquila place and create value chains that generate greater benefits.
According to the World Economic Forum, the nearshoring It is the relocation of operations to a nearby country, with a similar time zone, taking advantage of the workforce of neighboring economies, knowledge of the productive culture and years of experience. In this way, he says that delivery times are accelerated and there is greater certainty about the economic reality of neighboring countries.
The World Economic Forum highlights that Mexico, and in particular Nuevo León, “has been gaining ground little by little,” and that today it finds “a totally favorable scenario for companies that adopt the nearshoring as a relocation strategy.”
“What we have to look for is that these industries that are coming to Mexico have to be in development poles, such as the southeast poles, in other places in the country in accordance with the territorial vocation of each of the states. of the Republic,” Sheinbaum explained in Ciudad Juárez.
According to “100 steps for transformation”, for the presidential candidate “the challenge is to take advantage of the economic situation to replace imports coming mainly from Asia with regional production, and with high national content. “It’s about producing in North America what is consumed in North America.”
Sheinbaum says that “new investments must respect labor rights and offer fair and decent jobs and wages; not generate disruptive effects, but must incorporate and enrich the life of the community in which they are installed.”
The candidate affirms that “we must promote, above all, cutting-edge industries that transfer technological capacity and knowledge to the country.” She also clarifies that “the investments that arrive must be committed to the environment and the rational and sustainable use of natural resources, with circular economy processes and with ambitious goals for the use of decarbonization.”
However, according to the multinational human talent firm ManPower Group, the Mexican labor market has a great challenge in this, because there are a large number of professionals looking for jobs in areas with few opportunities and, at the same time, companies with great demand in occupations specialized in information and communication technology (ICT).
Regarding the relationship with the United States, the document “100 steps for transformation” also states that the free zone will be maintained in the 3,180 kilometers on the border with all its incentives, and that coordination will be strengthened to expand, improve and streamline the border crossings.
Additionally, Sheinbaum proposes promoting the “definition and establishment of binational work groups to address certain criminal phenomena, to facilitate cooperation and enhance prevention, containment, investigation and prosecution of the networks responsible for drug production and trafficking.” , arms trafficking, money laundering, human trafficking, cybercrimes and/or crimes based on the use of technology and other transnational crimes.
In line with AMLO
With his proposal to invest in the countries where migrants leave, Sheinbaum would continue President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s strategy of bringing his social programs to nations like El Salvador.
In fact, according to the Government of Mexico, in a recent telephone conversation with the president of the United States, Joe Biden, López Obrador ratified a 10-point proposal to address migration, which includes approving a budget of US$20 billion annually “for “Support poor countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, where their people are forced to emigrate out of necessity.”
Regarding the conditions for the nearshoringLike Sheinbaum, López Obrador talks about taking advantage to take it to the southeast poles. In fact, the current federal government has carried out various actions to privilege investments in the south, instead of the north, with infrastructure projects such as the Mayan Train or the Interoceanic Train of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
