AMLO: The Humanitarian Crisis in Central America Must Be Addressed With Urgency

At a press conference, President Lopez Obrador explained that the countries of Central America, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador have gone through a tremendous list of simultaneous calamities that have devastated those countries, such as the pandemic, hurricanes, earthquakes, poverty, lack of democracy and violence.

AMLO says that “We must address the causes that originate migration in the places of origin of the people.” Something that he has repeated since 2019 and for which Mexico is investing 100 million dollars a year in Central America.

The president explained that the purpose of the programs Planting Life and Young People Building the Future in Central America is such that people do not feel obliged to migrate, especially due to the recent problems that climate change has generated in those countries and part of the southeast of Mexico, such as the category four and five hurricanes that devastated those regions the previous November.

Specifically, the president emphasized that there is a need to immediately approve and implement the measures that Mexico proposes to the US, and that they participate together quickly, to increase 3 times what Mexico is already doing.

It should be pointed out that the US, since 2019, promised Mexico a share of the economic aid destined for Central America of 4 billion dollars for Lopez Obrador’s social programs. Now in the same way that promise continues with President Biden, but the realization of that promise remains stalled.

Recently, after last week’s virtual climate change summit, where the leaders of the world’s countries participated and expressed their concern, no country had demonstrated to have done anything significant since the Paris treaty was signed in 2005.  They have not removed any CO2 from the atmosphere, nor has it been lowered at any time during this period, something that will be accomplished with Sambrando Vida! 

“How much demagoguery is there about Climate Change and what is done? Nothing, that’s why it’s demagoguery. ” Lopez Obrador said.

Likewise, I do not wait to indirectly ask world leaders and the United States, “That millions of trees cannot be planted in Central America? In all of Latin America? Doesn’t that help to avoid climate change? That’s called action! And does it cost a lot? NO!

The President continued by saying “Why is there so much talk and no acting? We have the planting life program, we are investing 1,200 billion dollars a year to plant trees, we are employing more than 430,000 farm workers. If the US Congress authorizes the 4 billion dollars for Central America, that means raising the program we have to 3x, it means planting 3 million hectares, more than a million jobs. In how much time? It has to be Immediate, in a month. And we [Mexico] help in all organizational and agronomic and technological assistance, but decisions are required.”

Lopez Obrador also argued that there are people who say that there is corruption in the governments, and explains that they do not necessarily have to spend the money that is authorized by the governments. And he stressed, “that it be delivered directly to the people and their organizations, but we must act in that way, if the migration crisis cannot be resolved now, but it will be transitory because people will continue to seek to improve their [precarious] lives. “

https://youtu.be/hj3RkYIlKds?t=5179 (see video ends in minute 1 hour 33)

Version en Espanol

AMLO: HAY QUE ATENDER DE URGENCIA LA CRISIS HUMANITARIA EN CENTROAMÉRICA

AMLO: HAY QUE ATENDER DE URGENCIA LA CRISIS HUMANITARIA EN CENTROAMÉRICA