Guatemala will be looking forward today to the meeting between President Bernardo Arevalo and his Mexican counterpart, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, with border security and migration as key issues.

The Chapín president said days ago that there are common challenges between the two nations, referring to the tensions between criminal groups in the border area and the wave of irregular travelers facing the region.

In addition, according to the Guatemalan head of state, there is an active commercial line that they are interested in improving, and the meeting will encourage rapprochement between officials to give continuity to bilateral aspects.

The Mexican Foreign Minister, Alicia Bárcena, emphasized that in the municipality of Tapachula, in the state of Chiapas, the heads of Defense and Interior of both countries will hold a dialogue.

Before high-level representatives of 20 nations of the continent, ascribed to the declaration of Los Angeles, United States, of 2022, Arévalo urged on Tuesday 7 last to reach an effective response in favor of migrants.

At the opening ceremony of the event in the capital’s National Palace of Culture, the 65-year-old former diplomat called for operational strategies to address the phenomenon comprehensively.

«That our policies and actions are aimed at protecting the welfare of migrants and that of the communities that host them,» stressed the president, with little more than three months in office.

The Guatemalan ambassador in Mexico, Marco Tulio Chicas, considered the meeting important, as it is the first official meeting between the two presidents, he said.

Local analysts warned that the meeting between Arevalo and Lopez Obrador will take place amid a record flow of irregular foreigners, whose records at the border showed a figure of 782,176 in 2023.

They also described increasing the activity of criminal cells, which has left forests razed, land invaded, roads blocked, thousands of families displaced and entire communities in a state of vulnerability.