If it wasn’t clear that global leaders have no respect for President Joe Biden and his administration, it should be now.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador sat down with “60 Minutes” in a program that aired Sunday to discuss the recent recommendations and proposals he’s given the United States for Mexico’s assistance in dealing with its southern border.
These ideas — or what some are calling demands — include the U.S. spending $20 billion annually on poor Latin American countries, lifting sanctions on Venezuela, ending the Cuban embargo and legalizing millions of “law-abiding” Mexican citizens who crossed the southern border illegally.
The president of Mexico’s proposal for stemming immigration includes:
– The U.S. commit $20 billion a year to poor countries in Latin America and the Caribbean
-Lift sanctions on Venezuela
-End the Cuban embargo
-Legalize law-abiding Mexicans living in the U.S. pic.twitter.com/rmJ1j78SxQ— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) March 24, 2024
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There’s no question that Lopez Obrador can control much of the problem on the U.S. southern border. The “60 Minutes” piece noted that in December, almost 250,000 migrants surged north from Mexico into the U.S. After Biden administration officials sought Mexico’s help, the number in January was about half that, according to Customs and Border Patrol.
When “60 Minutes” correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi asked what Lopez-Obrador had done, he replied — through an interpreter — that Mexico had been more careful about its own southern border, and that he “spoke with the presidents of Central America, with the president of Venezuela, and with the president of Cuba.”
“We asked them for help in curbing the flow of migrants,” he said. “However, that is a short-term solution, not a long-term one.”
The “long-term” solution is, apparently, for the United States to pony up billions of dollars in protection money, and let its foreign policy toward communist regimes in Cuba and Venezuela be dictated in Mexico City.
The entire “60 Minutes” interview with Lopez Obrador can be seen below. It’s safe to say that international blackmailers are rarely treated so cheerfully.
Lopez Obrador has discussed the ideas with President Biden for a while, noting in December 2023 that he “proposed to President (Joe) Biden that a U.S.-Cuba bilateral dialogue be opened,” according to The Associated Press.
He also mentioned the $20 billion in aid for Latin American countries during discussions in January 2024, as reported at the time by the U.K. Daily Mail.
The Mexican president has frequently championed his ideas before the domestic news media as well, as the AP reported.
When Alfonsi asked what Lopez Obrado what will happen if the ideas aren’t implemented — if the demands aren’t met — he stated flatly, “The flow of migrants will continue.”
Even Alfonsi couldn’t help but bring up the fact that the “proposal” read like blackmail.
“Your critics have said what you’re doing — what you’re asking for, to help secure the border, is diplomatic blackmail,” she said.
“I am speaking frankly,” Obrador responded, without denying the charge. “We have to say things as they are and I always say what I feel. I always say what I think.”
Alfonsi then asked if he would continue to help with the southern border if his proposals weren’t met.
“Yes,” he said. “Because our relationship is very important. It is fundamental.”
That sounds considerably different from “the flow of migrants will continue.”
Considering that CBP reported 140,000 migrants in February, about 15,000 more than in January, it appears that flow is going to continue to rise, too.
Would Trump do a better job dealing with Mexico’s president?
Still, while Mexico obviously has some control over the size of the hordes gathering south of the border, it does not have the right or the might to tell America how to deal with its issues.
The answer to the border crisis comes in decisions made by American leaders for American citizens, not from anybody outside this country.
It was then-President Donald Trump’s policies that brought the border under control in 2020, and an American president truly dedicated to protecting the country could secure the border again.
The United States has numerous options to stem the border issue before considering a single thing that Lopez Obrador suggested.
As one X user suggested, the U.S. can pressure Mexico to secure its own borders, stemming the countless surge coming from Latin America, blocking all vessels carrying illegals, economic sanctions and more.
This is a ransom note, not a proposal.
My counterproposal:
– Deployment of Mexican military forces to fully secure *their* southern border with USSOUTHCOM monitors provided full access
– Interdiction and return of all vessels, buses, and other conveyances transiting Mexican… https://t.co/jkDFxdulOM— HUNTSMAN 🏴☠️ (@maphumanintent) March 25, 2024
What should be painfully obvious is that there is so much that can be done to secure the American southern border without thinking about what Lopez Obrador suggested — or perhaps blackmailed.
The fact that he even thinks that he should participate in ideas on how to deal with the border crisis, suggesting ideas that are so clearly biased toward his country and other Latin American countries, shows just how little respect he has for President Biden.
After the past three years, can anyone blame him?
