The President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, arrived in Mexico this Sunday morning to attend the “Palenque Meeting: for fraternal neighborliness and well-being”.meeting called by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to address the issue Immigration problem.
The head of state of the island will take part in the plenary session of this meeting – according to the official agenda, it should be around noon – which will be attended by heads of state and government and high representatives of 11 countries: Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador , Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Panama and Venezuela. Presidents Nicolás Maduro, Xiomara Castro and Gustavo Petro had confirmed their participation
The Cuban President will be accompanied at this meeting by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío and other Foreign Ministry officials.
As AMLO explained in recent days, the meeting will be attended by “essentially the countries where there is the most emigration or where migrants are passing through”. In his October 13 Mañanera, López Obrador raised concerns that “the flow of migrants is increasing and we must look for measures to address the causes.”
We are trying, he said at the time, to help each other so that people have options and opportunities to stay in their cities. The immigration issue must be addressed, he added, by respecting human rights, providing options and protecting migrants.
The Mexican president also spoke about asking the United States to work together to become more committed to addressing the causes, not only thinking about walls and the militarization of the border, but also about responding to the needs of the people, emphasized he in his usual routine.
According to the Mexican Foreign Ministry Last year, 2.58 million people crossed the border between Mexico and the United States.; along Mexico’s southern border, 314,268; and through Darién Street 248 thousand 284.
From January to September 2023 the numbers are 1.75 million people, along the Mexico-United States border; 1.13 million along Mexico’s southern border; and 428 thousand 696 through Darién Street.
The Mexican Foreign Ministry also announced that most emigrants come from Venezuela, Honduras, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, Cuba and Nicaragua (in that order).
President Díaz-Canel will present Cuba’s positions at the meeting about a phenomenon that has affected the island in the past, particularly due to the blockade policy that the United States government has maintained for more than 60 years.
Photo: Alejandro Azcuy
In a recent interview, the Cuban head of state stated: “At different times, and especially when we were in an economic crisis, there have been such crises.” excessive migration flows“. These are situations, he said, that occur cyclically as the United States government escalates the situation. Worst of all, they triggered illegal, unsafe migration that cost lives, he said.
In the aforementioned interview, the president explained to journalist Arleen Rodríguez that the measures imposed by Trump against Cuba were aimed at creating an unfavorable situation for social recovery linked to migration.
“Consular services were suspended in Cuba, they were offered with restrictions in other countries; People had to incur larger expenses to obtain a visa and uncertainty increased. They have even taken other measures to cut off our tourism income, such as recently the automatic visa, the visa for European citizens: if they visit Cuba, they will be deprived of the visa with which they can enter the United States. “All of this has led to an increase in migration.”
Cuba, said Díaz-Canel, supports legal, safe and orderly migration. “Our immigration law guarantees that, but the attitude of the United States government does not guarantee that, and what it causes is hopelessness and insecurity, and people plunge into completely dangerous, unsafe experiences,” commented the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba just a few days ago.
It is with this outlook that the delegation of the Greater Antilles comes to this meeting in Chiapas, which is expected to produce concrete proposals to address a phenomenon that is affecting the social and economic stability of nations.
(Taken from Cubadebate)