Mexico City, Mexico
Reuters
US Vice President Kamala Harris will speak with Mexico’s President on 7th May about his proposal to expand a tree-planting program to Central America as way to reduce poverty and migration, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Saturday.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has suggested the US Government offer temporary work visas and eventually citizenship to those who take part in the tree-planting program, called “Sembrando Vida”, or “Sowing Life”.
Central American migrants work in a compost to create organic material to be used as fertilizer for plants, as part of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador administration’s signature “Sembrando Vida”, or “Sowing Life” program, at the Tapachula Forestry Garden Center, in Tapachula, Mexico, on 21st April. PICTURE: Reuters/Jose Torres
Harris’ senior advisor and chief spokesperson, Symone Sanders, confirmed next month’s virtual meeting between the US Vice President and Obrador.
“This meeting will deepen the partnership between our countries to achieve the common goals of prosperity, good governance, and addressing the root causes of migration,” Sanders said in a statement.
The program aims to create 1.2 million jobs and plant three billion additional trees through expansion into southeastern Mexico and Central America, Lopez Obrador said at a White House virtual climate summit last week.
He also said US President Joe Biden “could finance” the program’s extension to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said in a Tweet that he and Economy Minister Tatiana Clouthier would participate in the 7th May meeting, which is also slated to touch on cooperation against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Biden tapped Harris last month to lead diplomatic efforts to cut immigration from Mexico and Central America.
– Additional reporting by LUCIA MUTIKANI in Washington, US.
