Biden Sent His National Security Advisor to Mexico
Maintaining an equal and collaborative relationship between the United States and Mexico was the interest expressed by Mexico's President-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, after a meeting with Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, National Security Advisor to President Joe Biden. During the meeting, Sheinbaum shared part of her vision on public security, the economy, and migration. “We talked about the importance of the commercial relationship between Mexico and the United States as trade partners. Moving forward, our relationship will obviously begin on October 1st, focusing on our interest in continuing collaboration based on the Bicentennial Understanding, as has been done now with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and his cabinet. This has enabled high-level meetings on all topics, including economic, security, and migration issues. Our interest is to continue this relationship based on the Bicentennial Understanding, which allows for a relationship of equality and collaboration between both countries,” she reported.
She explained that during the meeting —which lasted about an hour and included the presence of the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar— topics such as Mexico's interest in addressing measures to stop the trafficking of weapons across the border were also discussed. “We talked in general, without any agreements, just an informal conversation about trade issues, security issues, migration issues, and our interests, including the entry of weapons from the United States to Mexico,” she added.
She also mentioned that President Biden's National Security Advisor, Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, recognized her victory as the first female President of Mexico and the only female leader in North America. “We also talked about women's issues. She is a very important woman in the United States and congratulated me on the victory in Mexico and on the significance of having, for the first time, a female President not only in Mexico but in all of North America,” she highlighted.
In response to media questions, Claudia Sheinbaum clarified that this meeting was a first approach without agreements on the topics discussed, although she reiterated her vision on issues such as security, where the strategy is to address the causes and end impunity. Regarding migration, she reported that the U.S. advisor handed over a printed document on President Joe Biden's proposed migration policy. “They presented us with a document developed by President Biden on migration issues, called 'The Genuine Hemispheric Approach to Migration Cooperation.' They gave us a printed presentation, and that was it—no agreements or further situations, just discussions on various topics,” she stated.
She recalled that the vision of her National Project is to address the causes of migration, mainly to boost the economic development of the southern border to prevent migrants from leaving their places of origin in search of better conditions in the north of the continent. Finally, she reported that she was accompanied at this meeting by Dr. Juan Ramón de la Fuente, coordinator of the Transition Work and who led the Transformation Dialogues, and Omar García Harfuch, elected senator and former Secretary of Citizen Security in Mexico City.
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