Over the years, I’ve learned a couple of things about Mexico’s political class.
First, they need to send a certain number of people north. It is an essential valve to release potential social pressures; and,
Second, they don’t want Central Americans, or anybody else, using Mexico into a highway to the U.S.
This is what we are seeing again. Mexico is proactively handling the caravan by stopping it on their border. Again, they don’t want them, as this report shows:
Mexico has said the Hondurans in the current caravan would not be allowed to enter as a group, and members would either have to show a passport and visa — items few of the migrants have — or apply individually for refugee status, a process that can take three months for approval. Mexican officials also said migrants caught without papers would be deported.
In a statement, the country’s foreign ministry said the “government of Mexico maintains permanent communication with the members of the caravan that have reached the southern border, to whom the options to which they are entitled have been explained.”
Many are reacting saying that Mexico buckled to President Trump’s threat. I don’t think so.
I agree with President Trump’s threats to Mexico and other countries. However, I believe that this is Mexico acting on its own interests. In this case, Mexico and the U.S. have common interests.
We should remember that southern Mexico, or the states that border with Guatemala, are the poorest areas of the country. They’ve had their share of problems down there and adding more poor people from Central America is out of the question.
As my Mexican friends have me told me over the years: “No nos conviene” or loosely translated to “It does not suit us”.
Indeed it does not.
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