Mexican president requests his US counterpart to lift sanctions on Cuba and Venezuela

The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, on Saturday requested from his US counterpart, Joe Biden, the lifting of trade sanctions imposed on Venezuela and Cuba.

López Obrador urged the US president in a phone call to "suspend sanctions against Venezuela" and "lift the blockade imposed on Cuba" to reduce the flow of immigrants from both countries, according to a statement from the Mexican presidency.

According to the statement, the left-leaning Mexican president told Biden, "Any law adopted in this context that ignores the causes of the migration phenomenon and does not address it is doomed to remain ink on paper."

In response, the White House stated that the two parties agreed to "continue their fruitful partnership" in addressing migration challenges.

This contact comes at a crucial stage, where it is expected to announce an agreement negotiated by a group of members of the Republican and Democratic Senators, which could tighten immigration policy in the United States.

While awaiting confirmation from Congress, Biden stated that this agreement represents the "harshest set of reforms" in the history of the United States and will allow for the "closure of the borders" with Mexico "when witnessing a surge" of immigrants.

The agreement's details are still unknown, but it is expected to tighten immigration and asylum policies.

Republicans insist on tightening immigration policies in exchange for releasing an additional budget of around a hundred billion dollars to meet urgent needs, including securing supplies for Ukraine, assisting Israel, and enhancing the border with Mexico.

AFP