Mexico is “sincerely committed” to the fight against illicit fentanyl, President López Obrador told United States President Joe Biden during a bilateral meeting on Friday.
The two presidents met in San Francisco, where they attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit this week.
Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that is largely responsible for the overdose epidemic in the United States, has been a hot topic at the annual APEC meeting, mainly due to the presence of the president of China, which is a large producer and exporter of the precursor chemicals used to manufacture the drug.
In public remarks at the beginning of his meeting with Biden, López Obrador said that Mexico “is committed to continue supporting” the United States by “not allowing the entry of [precursor] chemicals and fentanyl,” which most commonly come into the country via Pacific coast seaports.
“We’re very conscious of the damage [fentanyl] causes to young people in the United States. This issue has to do with our brothers [in the U.S.] and is an act of solidarity. Mexico is sincerely committed to continue helping with everything [we can] to avoid the trafficking of drugs, in particular the entry of fentanyl and other chemicals,” he said.
López Obrador’s meeting with Biden came a day after he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, during which the Mexican president emphasized “the importance of reaching an agreement to exchange information on shipments” of fentanyl and precursor chemicals leaving China.
Earlier this year, China declared there was “no such thing” as illegal fentanyl trafficking to Mexico, but now appears to accept that precursor chemicals do indeed cross the Pacific to Mexican ports.
For his part, Biden declared that “nothing is beyond our reach in my view when Mexico and the United States stand together and work together as we’ve been doing.”
“We see it in our security cooperation, we’re working side-by-side to combat arms trafficking, to tackle organized crime and to address the opioid epidemic, including fentanyl” he said.
“When we talk privately I want to tell you about my great conversation with Xi Jinping on that issue,” Biden said.
In a statement on the bilateral meeting, the White House said that the two leaders “discussed ways the United States and Mexico can expand law enforcement cooperation as we combat the trafficking of people, illicit drugs, and arms, and dismantle the violent transnational criminal organizations that run these trafficking networks and terrorize our communities.”
Mexican and U.S. officials have held numerous meetings to discuss their shared fight against fentanyl, which cartels manufacture in Mexico with the precursor chemicals shipped here from Asia, especially China. The fentanyl problem was a key focus of the Mexico-U.S. High Level Security Dialogue, which was held in Mexico City last month.
On migration, López Obrador said that further progress needs to be made, but noted that the two countries are working together on the issue. After a regional migration summit in Chiapas last month, López Obrador said that he would raise the issues discussed with Biden.
However, he didn’t mention the event in his opening remarks, focusing instead on thanking Biden for the legal migration pathways his administration has opened up for citizens of certain Western Hemisphere countries and acknowledging that he hasn’t built any additional wall on the Mexico-U.S border – at least not yet.
“It’s a humane way to address the migratory phenomenon,” López Obrador said of the legal pathways for citizens of countries including Venezuela, Nicaragua and Haiti.
“I would also like to … state that [Biden] is the first president in the United States in recent times who has not built walls. It is true,” he added.
Biden thanked López Obrador for his “cooperation” and “leadership” on the migration “challenge,” telling his counterpart that he knows such work is not easy.
“We’re taking a balanced approach that lies at the heart of the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection. … It includes enforcing our borders, increasing reparations, and opening a historic number of legal pathways for migrants,” he said.
The White House statement said that the two presidents “discussed their joint commitment to address the root causes of migration across the Western Hemisphere and to expand lawful pathways for migration.”
Biden highlighted economic cooperation between the United States and Mexico, which are each other’s largest trade partner with two-way trade worth almost US $600 billion in the first nine months of 2023.
“In our economic cooperation, we’re growing our economies from the bottom up and the middle out so that not just the wealthy benefit, but all our citizens benefit from our economic growth,” the U.S. president said.
“And we see it in our work to strengthen supply chains, including through the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity, and we’ve been cooperating there as well.”
López Obrador said on social media that the Mexico-United States relationship is “excellent,” one of “friendship, respect and cooperation.”
There are, however, some unresolved disputes, including one involving Mexico’s nationalistic energy policies and another related to Mexico’s stance on genetically modified corn. It was unclear whether those issues were discussed at the bilateral meeting on Friday.
In addition to holding bilateral talks with Biden and Xi during the first APEC summit he has attended as president, López Obrador met on Thursday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“We addressed the migration issue and he expressed the confidence of the business people of his country to continue investing in Mexico and creating jobs,” López Obrador said on social media.
With reports from El Universal and Reforma
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My sense is that there has been genuine progress but Mexico needs to do much better job of dealing with its cartels and the United States of America needs to do a much better job of dealing with its addicts.
The cartels, unfortunately, are more powerful than ever and operate with impunity throughout Mexico.
The government is powerless to top them for a variety of reasons the number one reason fear. Even the highest and most honest members of security forces here are afraid of the cartels and their ruthless response to containment.
Absolutely agree with Robert Burns!
Partially agree Robert,
When there is a high demand for a certain product, the ‘market’ will react.
And… the demand is ifrom the U.S, especially from the artists industry.
There is no demand for fentanyl at all. The cartels mix the chemicals in Mexico that China supplies then they mix it in with all other drugs they sell. There is no such thing as a fentanyl market on the streets. The demand and supply have nothing to do with people dying. This is the Chinese government trying to kill off Americans mostly although quite a few Mexican addicts have gotten it and died also.
I watched the presser live, and then watched again . . . very disappointed in the LACK OF RESPECT Biden showed President Lopez Obrador . . . when he picked up his binder while AMLO was speaking . . . ((( or was Biden reading the transcript of AMLO’s remarks ??? )))
Biden doesn’t know where he is. He is in the middle of dementia.
. . . on another note, since when have the people of Mexico NOT BUILT WALLS ??? In most if not all the cities in Mexico, a private home is surrounded by 12 foot high cement block walls . . . with decorative iron bars protecting the windows . . .
It only applies to thee not to meeeeeee.
Robert Burns is absolutely right. Our U.S. population is the problem when it comes to opioid over-consumption leading to the deaths of the 18 – 25-year-olds. Unfortunately, U.S. politicians are also complicit, The cartels vow to I.D. those pols who’re involved in the event of harsh clamp downs.
i paid did not get ?
Genetically engineered corn coming into Mexico is not an issue! It is a free choice. I stand with AMLO on this and I am a US citizen , permanent resident of Mexico!
It is a huge issue genetically engineered crops put all the agricultural power in the hands of huge corporations like Monsanto.
No borders: one North America, oh, that would be a big no to so many. Then lets just have a North America pact, if you have a drivers license in one country, you can just cross the border to one of the others. Still too liberal for you. Let’s have a 6 month work visa, no hassle, open to citizens of the three countries in North America. Still too liberal for you, continue to live with the chaos and nasty politics that presently exist.
Its so obvious AMLO is scared to death of the cartels and he should be other than a occasional arrest it’s love and kisses for cartels .Let’s have US military cros border and kill them all would not take much time Cartels are big problem just do it México don’t worry about your sovereignty it will be fine and both places will be better off
The US military has no business in Mexico and would only bolster anti American feelings here.
Just don’t worry about your sovereignty? Really this is not a solution. You are right about fear of the cartels, but it’s not the job of the USto send troops into Mexico this would be a disaster. The only thing Mexicans hate more than cartels is us jingoism.