华盛顿-美国和墨西哥在暂停了四年后，周四重启了高级别经济谈判，乔·拜登总统和安德烈斯·曼努埃尔·洛佩斯·奥布拉多尔总统的高级顾问表示渴望在基础设施、贸易和移民等对两国都很重要的问题上取得进展。
会谈是由拜登在2013年发起的，当时他还是副总统巴拉克·奥巴马但在唐纳德·特朗普总统的强硬路线下被叫停移居政策使美国与其头号贸易伙伴的关系变得复杂。
副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯在周四的会议开始时发表了简短的讲话，她试图强调拜登政府希望改善关系，称墨西哥代表团是“我们的朋友，我们的伙伴”她还强调了在应对新冠肺炎大流行、气候变化、网络威胁和供应链中断是两国高度优先事项的时刻改善关系的重要性。
“我们对美国和墨西哥之间关系和伙伴关系的下一阶段感到非常兴奋，”哈里斯说，他在6月份访问了墨西哥城，与洛佩斯·奥布拉多尔进行了会谈。“墨西哥是我们最亲密的邻国……也是我们的战略伙伴和最重要的经济关系之一。墨西哥的经济稳定符合美国的利益。”
洛佩斯·奥布拉多尔最近几周面临批评，原因是墨西哥移民特工和国民警卫队在南部恰帕斯州与移民发生暴力冲突。墨西哥南部以及美墨边境的移民压力促使洛佩斯·奥布拉多尔再次努力说服美国为他在墨西哥南部实施的社会项目提供资金，他说这些项目可能会扩展到中美洲。
他说，他本周给拜登发了一封信，强调参与这些项目的人也应该获得美国的工作签证，因为拜登将需要劳动力来实施他雄心勃勃的基础设施计划。
洛佩斯·奥布拉多尔在他的每日新闻发布会上说:“今天的会议非常重要，这样我们就可以开始一个新的阶段，因为没有人关注有义务移民的人口。“已经好几年没有了。没什么?一切都包含在内。一切都是胁迫。这不是解决社会问题的方式。”
美方代表是商务部长吉娜·雷蒙多、国务卿安东尼·布林肯、国土安全部部长亚历杭德罗·马约尔卡斯、美国贸易代表凯瑟琳·泰、美国国际开发署署长萨曼莎·鲍尔和美国驻墨西哥大使肯·萨拉查。
墨西哥代表团成员包括外交部长马塞洛·埃布拉德、经济部长塔蒂亚娜·克卢蒂尔、驻美国大使埃斯特万·莫克特祖玛、副财政部长加布里埃尔·约里奥、副外贸部长鲁兹·玛丽亚·德拉莫拉、北美首席执行官罗伯托·维拉斯科和国际条约监测、管理和遵守监督总干事莉迪亚·安东尼奥。
US, Mexico restart high-level economic talks after 4 years
WASHINGTON -- The United States andMexicorestarted high-level economic talks Thursday after a four-year pause as top advisers to presidents Joe Biden and Andrés Manuel López Obrador expressed eagerness to make headway on issues important to both nations such as infrastructure, trade and migration.
The talks were launched by Biden in 2013 when he was vice president underBarack Obamabut were halted under President Donald Trump, whose hard-lineimmigrationpolicies complicated the United States’ relationship with its top trade partner.
Vice President Kamala Harris opened Thursday's meeting with brief remarks in which she sought to emphasize the Biden administration's desire for warmer relations, referring to the Mexican delegation as “our friends, our partners." She also stressed the importance of improving relations in a moment when dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, cyber threats and supply chain disruptions are high priorities for both nations.
“We are very excited about this next stage of the relationship and partnership between the United States and Mexico,” said Harris, who visited Mexico City in June for talks with López Obrador. “Mexico is our closest neighbor … and a strategic partner and one of our most important economic relationships. Mexico’s economic stability is in the interest of the United States."
López Obrador has faced criticism in recent weeks over images of Mexican immigration agents and National Guard troops having sometimes violent clashes with migrants in the southern state of Chiapas. The migration pressure in southern Mexico as well as at the U.S.-Mexico border led López Obrador to renew his effort to persuade the United States to commit funding to social projects he has implemented in southern Mexico that he says could be expanded to Central America.
He said he sent a letter this week to Biden stressing that people participating in the programs should also be offered work visas in the United States, because Biden will need the labor force to carry out his ambitious infrastructure plan.
“Today’s meeting is very important so that we initiate a new stage, because there has not been attention to the population that is obligated to migrate,” López Obrador said at his daily news conference. “There hasn’t been in years. Nothing. Everything is contain. Everything is coercion. And that is not how social problems are resolved.”
The U.S. side was represented by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, USAID Administrator Samantha Power and U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar.
Mexico's delegation included Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, Secretary of Economy Tatiana Clouthier, Ambassador to the U.S. Esteban Moctezuma, Under Secretary of Finance Gabriel Yorio, Under Secretary of Foreign Trade Luz Maria de la Mora, Chief Officer for North America Roberto Velasco, and Director General for International Treaties’ Monitoring, Administration and Compliance Oversight Lydia Antonio.
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