By Jorge Antonio Rocha
MEXICO CITY (AA) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday that Mexico will hold a summit hosting eleven leaders from Latin America to discuss the surge in migration flows in the region.
The summit is scheduled for Oct. 22 and will take place in Chiapas, a southern state of Mexico bordering Guatemala, which has become the main entry point for migrants and asylum seekers from the rest of Latin America.
At his press conference, Lopez Obrador confirmed the presence of leaders from Ecuador, Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, Belize, Guatemala, Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, Costa Rica and Panama.
"These are the countries that have more influence in everything related to migration, either because it is their people, their inhabitants of those countries who are emigrating, or as in the case of Costa Rica, Panama, our case, even also the case of Colombia, are countries through which migrants pass," said Lopez Obrador.
According to Lopez Obrador, most countries invited to the summit have confirmed their assistance, except for the leaders of Colombia and Guatemala, whom the Mexican government has not yet approached.
The Latin American conference was previously announced by Lopez Obrador in the context of a growing wave of migrants moving toward the northern border with the United States.
Lopez Obrador estimates that 6,000 migrants arrive daily at Mexico's southern border, while up to 10,000 migrants arrive at their northern border with the US. The surging migration has resulted in pressure from the US towards Mexico to ramp up border control efforts.
The Department of Homeland Security reported that it has removed or returned more than 250,000 individuals from the US between May and September.
The meeting seeks to find a solution among the participating countries, which will then be proposed by the Mexican President to his US counterpart, President Joe Biden, in November. While announcing the upcoming summit, Lopez Obrador said the conference would center on the causes of migration.
"To guarantee that there will be work, that there will be welfare for the people of our countries to temper, to reduce the migratory flow, not just thinking about coercive measures, checkpoints, walls, militarizing the borders, let's see, let's address the causes," said Lopez Obrador.