Mexican Foreign Minister to Attend CELAC’s Emergency Meeting on Migration
Migrants awaiting takeoff for a removal flight at the Tucson International Airport, Jan. 23, 2025. X/ @channelstv
January 28, 2025 Hour: 12:35 pm
This The high-level meeting was prompted by the diplomatic standoff between the United States and Colombia.
On Tuesday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced she would not attend the emergency meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which was convened by Honduran President Xiomara Castro following the standoff between the United States and Colombia
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She will send Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente to represent her at the CELAC meeting scheduled for Thursday. Sheinbaum emphasized that, while she would not attend the CELAC meeting, there would always be “solidarity and coordination” with all Latin American governments.
On Sunday, in her capacity as CELAC’s pro tempore president, Castro called for an urgent meeting of presidents and heads of state to address three specific issues: migration, the environment, and unity in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The high-level meeting was prompted by the diplomatic standoff between the United States and Colombia, which arose after Colombian President Gustavo Petro refused to allow the entry of two planes carrying deportees from the United States, citing concerns over the lack of “dignified” treatment for these individuals.
This led U.S. President Donald Trump to impose 25% tariffs on all Colombian products and announce that the tariffs would increase to 50% within a week, along with additional visa, travel, and migration sanctions. In response, Petro announced reciprocal measures.
A few hours later, however, the White House declared the crisis with Colombia resolved, stating that the Petro administration had accepted “all of President Trump’s terms” regarding the deportations.
On Tuesday, Sheinbaum also urged migrants “not to be deceived” by human traffickers who charge thousands of dollars with false promises of transportation to the United States, stressing that the Trump administration has “closed all asylum applications.”
Previously, the Mexican newspaper La Razon published an article highlighting that traffickers charge migrants up to US$4,000, promising to help them cross the border or arrange their entry into the U.S.
The Mexican government claims that the daily detention of migrants at the U.S. border has dropped by nearly 75% since December 2023. However, irregular migration within Mexican territory increased by 132% year-on-year from January to August 2024, with a record of over 925,000 individuals detected.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
