Transcripts For CSPAN Mexican 20240704

Good afternoon. My name is Adrienne Arsht founder of the Adrienne Arsht Latin American Center and executive vice chair of the Atlantic Council. Thank you for joining us, particularly those here in person, including mexican ambassador to the u. S. , estevan montezuma and u. S. Ambassador to mexico, ken salazar. Thank you as well to all of those tuning in on cspan and telemundo. And ntn124 for covering the event. We are pleased to be hosting a conversation with mexicos newly confirmed secretary of Foreign Affairs, alicia. Secretary, thank you for choosing the Atlantic Council for making your public remarks in washington. We are delighted to have you here. The secretary is in washington dc as part of the First Official trip to the United States. Having previously served as executive secretary of the Economic Commission for latin america and the caribbean and more recently, ambassador of mexico and chile. Secretary Alicia Barcena brings years of experience she is very young, and knowledge to her new position. She also spent time as under secretarygeneral for management at the United Nations headquarters in new york. And as chief de cabinet to former secretarygeneral. Secretary Alicia Barcena cares deeply about environmental matters, serving as court nadir of the latin american and Caribbean Sustainable Development program of the United Nations development program. And she founded the Earth Council in costa rica. In december of last year the United States and mexico celebrated 200 years of bilateral relations. In those years, our countries have supported each other with economic, social, political and cultural ties. Today, the relationship is stronger than ever before. The history of u. S. Mexico relationship makes secretary Alicia Barcenas role critical to the continued development of the United States and mexicos strong and enduring relationship. And with that, i will turn this over to jason marczak, senior director of the Latin American Center, who will moderate this conversation with the secretary. Thank you very much, adrienne treated secretary, welcome to the Atlantic Council and welcome to our tv and in studio audience. Before we begin i would like to turn over to you, madam secretary for a presentation on the tenants and priorities of the u. S. Mexico relationship and then we will engage with a question and answer on that and other items. Sec. Barcena im delighted to be here. Thank you jason, adrian and all of you for being here. It is a great honor to be here today. What i want to say is im sure you are going to ask me something that i think is very relevant. I have 12 i have 13 months, 20 days and 72 hours to remain secretary. At least in the current administration. But what are the five things that i think we are really focusing on and deliverables that i think we should get . Macroeconomic and geopolitical indicators of mexico are very good and i want to admit and recognize that many of your associates, like the private sector, which has had a discussion with walmart and some others, amazon and other companies, let me tell you something. You know the people that receive the benefits of basic good prices went from 70 Million People who did not have access to basic products. 70 million were not able to get the food they need, the basic basket. Now it went down to 15 million, so that means we have improved the lives of 2 million at least. It is not enough, we have still a great challenge, but i wanted to mention these things, the economic and social indicators that we are dealing with, key projects of the Mexican Government and what we have achieved with the u. S. Is very important. We have a bilateral relationship on topics like economy, security, migration, human mobility, climate change. What are we going to do with that relationship . Im not going to go into detail, but one fear that i think i must highlight is this semester, the trade between the two countries comes out to 400 dollars. Only trade. When we go to investment, the United States is one of our major investors in mexico. And i think we have a structure that has been so much integrated in the opportunities of near shoring are there, so we should take sight of that. There are three projects that i would like to highlight very quickly because one of the things that low press over door has done is move from the northern part to the southern part of mexican development. To integrate internally mexico. This is very important. And we have three main megaprojects that i hope will be of interest. We have the sonora plan, the buyout train and the cora door, opportunities for employee meant and improving the lives of people. Let me tell you something that i think is so important, that is for the first time, this is unprecedented, mexico and the u. S. Have engaged in a conversation for an orderly, safe, regular, humane migration. I think this is unprecedented. We have opened up regular pathways and legal pathways for labor mobility, for more than 170,000 people. We do humanitarian permits. 170,000 people, pathways in terms of orderly, safe we are talking thousands of people on temporary work vehicles that we had v says that we have are amazing. We should be very proud of it. What are the challenges . We need your help. We need the help of the u. S. To make sure that arms and guns are not coming our way because on the other side of the break and, we know of other types of trafficking, like drugs and we need to make sure we can avoid that. Finally, what are the shared multilateral commitments we can engage between the u. S. And mexico with the world . One of them is climate change, no question about it. We have multilateral commitments that are shared and of course you find in the photograph john kerry, your magnificent special envoy. So thank you so much for hosting me today. And for allowing me to give you a quick overview of where we are today. Mr. Marczak thank you, thats an excellent quick overview. We will start off with you have been sec. For over one month now. Youve traveled extensively. We were commenting before we were in brussels the same time a few weeks ago around the eu summit. Your number one priority is your presentation, nearly 14 months, counting the hours and minutes. What do you hope to accomplish 14 months from having this conversation . What would you like to say you have achieved as foreign secretary within those priorities youve outlined and perhaps others . Sec. Barcena on the economic front, to be able to bring certainty and to be able to engage in intersectional mexico, u. S. And canada, i think it is very important to consolidate, a very important Economic Framework and to make sure that even if i am leaving or we are leaving in 13 months that this can remain as a powerful thing. We have paved the way for a powerful mechanism of trade, investment and Economic Development and partnership with social inclusion and sustainability, which i do not think is easy, but we have to achieve it. Secondly i would like to achieve that is why i was in europe, i hoped we would be able to sign at the global agreement with europe. The modernized global agreement. On the economic front, these things for us are important. Internally, latin america and the caribbean would like to engage in a more powerful integration process with trade, so that is the economic front. On migration we want to consolidate legal pathways that we have opened up the u. S. To make sure that they are there and explore other mechanisms that could be of interest. For example, for workers that want to come to the u. S. , not necessarily to stay, but to work temporarily, helping open up more opportunities for them together with the companies i would say, with the private sector. Secondly, we can talk a little bit more about what are we going to do with those people that got stuck in exit code after the end of title 42. These are the things im coming here to discuss, particularly with the secretary. Thirdly on security, what we want is to engage thoroughly on the drugs matter. We know fentanyl is a priority for the u. S. And the abuse i mean, your people are being killed in a way. 100,000 young people, we heard some 14 years old to 15 years old are being killed because of the overdoses of fentanyl, so we need to work on that. It is beyond who produces or what happens. We need to Work Together because this is a global problem. So the Global Coalition on synthetic drugs that Antony Blinken is pulling together is something we want to participate in. Migration, security, the other thing is how can we work on i would say on these institutional mechanisms that we have created to advance on that, in terms of the bicentennial relationship. So we are talking about economic security, human mobility, and of course climate change, which is another one of the issues. Or environmental matters. Its climate, water, ocean, plastics. What are the things we can collaborate and enhance participation. Mr. Marczak mr. Klaidman with those priorities it will be a busy 14 months for you. Let me move to the border, a topic that of course gets a lot of interest on the u. S. Side. On both sides. Weve shown historically that the border relationship is not onesided, its a twosided relationship. It is federal and at a local level and a state level as well, bordering mexican states on the mexican side and u. S. Side as well. At the Atlantic Council we have done work over the last couple of years, weve shown a 10 minute reduction in border wait times would lead to the creation of nearly 19,000 mexican jobs. Just 10 minutes and we would have a positive annual impact of five point 4 million on the u. S. Economy. Just talking about 10 minutes. What new areas of cooperation do you see at the u. S. Mexico border to facilitate that commerce investment and the opportunities for even further advancing productive integration between the two economies . Definitely infrastructure is one of them. Sec. Barcena we have to build the bridges and infrastructures needed at the border. Water is another priority of course. Indeed, we have to facilitate and make sure that we understand what is the difference between those who are seeking for a job or for trade or investment, differentiate that or decouple that type of movement on the border from the other part, which is more related at lets say to illicit traffic or whatever. So i think we are getting quite organized, i guess, in terms of the border. That is why i think the conversation is so important. We have been discussing today and yesterday how best we can enhance our infrastructure in the border, investment in the border. And make sure that we facilitate the movement of goods, services and basically people, the people that want to work and contribute to the economy. Im talking not about u. S. And mexico, talking about canada because we have a trilateral mechanism where we can and help to decouple migration from security, i think is another of the challenges we have ahead of us. Mr. Marczak fentanyl is a major topic of major concern in the United States, as well as unauthorized migration. Yesterday your counterpart, secretary blinken announced the designation of three of threes and a lower Cartel Members in fentanyl and other drugs, when he talked about working on the u. S. And mexican side to improve the security situation at the border,s sickly what does that look like for you so far as additional steps that could be taken, both for mexico, but also what would you aspire to be further areas of focus as well . Sec. Barcena the president and President Biden have a close relationship and that helps a lot. Because they talk to each other and we have mechanisms that are working. On fentanyl, we are part of the Global Coalition on synthetic drugs established by Antony Blinken. What are we doing . In mexico we have clear instructions by president lopez and the head of the navy, army and of course the head of health , what are we doing . We established a system. When i say we, it is mexico. For tracing the whole value training of synthetic drugs. The first thing we are going to do is control the precursors of synthetic drugs. Where are they coming from . We dont go to the precursors but we receive them. We need to follow up the beginning to the end now the problem with the precursors of synthetic drugs is they come in very lets say difficult formats to trace. It is not containers. We are talking about sometimes a package, a small thing. But we are pulling together a digital tracking system that is very sophisticated and very interesting. And the most important control that we are setting up are in the coastal areas and the ports of this is happening both in coastal areas and the border and we are collaborating quite a bit between mexico in the u. S. But also canada, because canada also has a problem. Sometimes these precursors are coming directly even to the u. S. And they are going to mexico. So we have to control not only the ports of entry from mexico to the u. S. , but from the u. S. To mexico so that is something we need to improve on jointly of course. This is something that dhs also needs to help us with, because it is not only drugs that are trafficking. It is arms, guns, many things that are precisely the other side of the coin. The list of criminal guns. Mr. Marczak it is important to continue as we do at the Atlantic Council, look at the border as an opportunity, which it is typically looked at as a challenge, but the economic potential to border brings only look at issues like near shoring. Your presentation mentions the fact that mexico is poised to capture nearly 50 of near shoring potential projected for latin america. Earlier this summer, also transmitted live via cspan with senators cassidy and and it, cosponsor of the bipartisan americas act. We had an event where we talked about near shoring and announced a new Atlantic Council working group focused on that, looking at the push and pull factors to bring further investment into the region. From your perspective, what will be primary policies that you would like to be able to move forward that could further put mexico on the map to incentivize u. S. Investment in mexico at this critical moment, at this moment in which there is really this real urge for companies to look specifically at the near broad of the United States to move more investments . Sec. Barcena basically, i think theres a lot of opportunities to bring it near shoring companies. Many companies in the asianpacific are interested in coming to the u. S. Or mexico, to the north american region. I would like to talk about the north american region, you know . We have to integrate much better as you say in the border, but also in many fronts. Policies related to security, migration, also incentives to invest in infrastructure, and the border, also investing, that is what i see the president is doing, investing in the southern part of mexico. To bring opportunities not only for the northern part of mexico, the whole mexican country. The other thing is we need to focus on so other structural causes of human mobility. We need to invest not only in mexico, the u. S. , canada, but also central america. We need to invest in the places where the origin of human flows is coming from. So i guess that we have a tremendous opportunity to or we have to give of course rules, clear rules, enforcement by the u. S. Someone was talking about that. The three countries will have to work on how best we consolidate these mechanisms and instruments we have created. Mr. Marczak we are past the Halfway Point of the first six years of the usmca agreement. Is mexicos dutch as mexico secretary, i would like to focus on regional global issues you mentioned as well. Regionally yesterday there was a tragic assassination in could or of the president ial candidate, fernando. At the cowardly act in could or. A tragedy that reflects the incredible security challenge that country faces. I would like to give you an opportunity to comment on yesterdays event in good or as mexicos foreign secretary. Sec. Barcena we are very sorry. We regret enormously the situation that is happening yesterday. And i talked with the Foreign Affairs minister, just conveying to them our condolences and how best we can really collaborate to bring back some sort of stability. We went through this at some point in mexico, 1984, when it was killed, so we know i difficult this can be. And that securities, i would say securities or the lack of security is happening in many places. Not only in our country but the whole region. The whole region is confronting a security problem and i think that is why we need to collaborate. We need atmospheric approaches to security. Nobody alone is going to solve this problem. My view would be of course what we are confronting in latin america and in this country is political polarization, that is not helping, that is not helping. We need to confront democracy in a different way. Its not about polarization and confrontation that we are going to get out of this situation. Sec. Barcena i could not agree more. Mr. Marczak one topic we focus on from a global perspective is ukraine and the ongoing conflict of russias invasion of ukraine. Last week mexico announced it is ready to collaborate in peace talks regarding ukraine. How is that collaboration unfolding . Sec. Barcena we want to be clear, mexico is very vocal and we want to make sure that everybody understands that we are totally against the russian invasion of ukraine in terms of the violation of the u. N. Charter. So that is for sure. Now the next step is we need to stop talking about war and Start Talking about peace. And these arms that are going constantly to ukraine are not going to help because the conflict is going to be worse and worse. The position of mexico is peace talks, lets go for peace. Lets sit down with two parties preferably. Sit down and find a way of establishing clear rules and i would say even cease fire or cease of hostilities. At least cease of hostilities, we need to make that happen because the whole world is suffering. So that is our position, that is how we would like to help. We know there was an important meeting in saudi arabia, we hope that this will continue. We will be in that discussion in the future. Preferably if the two parties are there, this is our position. Mr. Marczak i want to thank you for coming to the Atlantic Council for Public Comments as part of your First Official trip to washington dc. Glad the august weather could cooperate in washington. Want to acknowledge our ambassadors in the audience. Ambassador montezuma, salazar, thank you for joining us in of course adrian for kicking us off. You have the commitment of the Atlantic Council and the latin center to further advance u. S. Mexico ties, seeing this as an Incredible Opportunity to further strengthen this important relationship and partnership between our countries. Sec. Barcena thank you very much for the opportunity to present our priorities and also to present my team who is here with me. Robert, who you know of course. Martin, who is around there i suppose. And christina, who is also here with us. We are here and ambassador montezuma. I have to say 10 salazar ken salazar is a binational. Thank you, jason, adrian and all of you for being present today here. Mr. Marczak thank you