Biden and Sheinbaum met in Rio!
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Nov 18 (EFE) –
United States President Joe Biden and his Mexican counterpart Claudia Sheinbaum met for the first time to discuss strengthening bilateral relations, migration, security, and economic issues, the White House said.
Biden and Sheinbaum, who took office on Oct. 1, met in person for the first time on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil.
According to the White House statement, “President Biden expressed his congratulations on her recent election and reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to building a prosperous North America with good paying jobs.”
“The two leaders underscored the importance of maintaining cooperation on migration, security and tackling the scourge of transnational criminal violence, and economic issues, building on the strong bilateral partnership between the United States and Mexico,” the document added.
Biden also met with the other partner in the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (T-MEC), Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The two discussed creating middle-class jobs, combating climate change, immigration, the humanitarian crisis in Haiti, and strengthening the NATO alliance.
The US president reaffirmed the his commitment to a continental goal of Arctic defense and the importance of investing in defense in response to Russian pressure in the polar region and the opening of possible routes through the North Pole due to climate change.
Biden’s bilateral meetings with the two North American neighbors come two months before the Democrat leaves the presidency.
President-elect Donald Trump has advocated renegotiating the T-MEC and imposing tariffs on Mexican and Chinese exports to strengthen the domestic manufacturing sector. EFE
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