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This is the first time that Barrack Obama participates in North American summit since taking the office, with his Mexican and Canadian counterparts. "Officially, the three men should talk about everything from the economy to the fight against influenza A. But two subjects should occupy most of the discussions: the fight against drug cartels and the difficulties of the free trade agreement which binds the three countries," reports LeMonde.
Yesterday the office of the Mexico's president has released an information informing about the results of the private bilateral meeting of Mr. Calderon and U.S. president Barack Obama.
Private Bilateral Meeting between President Calderón and US Counterpart, Barack Obama
Mexican President Felipe Calderón held his third bilateral meeting this year with US President Barack Obama in Guadalajara this afternoon to continue the intense dialogue between the two governments.
During the meeting, they exchanged points of view on the actions undertaken by each country to cope with the international economic crisis. They also discussed key aspects on the bilateral economic agenda. In particular, they discussed the issues of competitiveness, trade and public policies regarding the border.
The two leaders were confident that the development of border infrastructure will contribute to the shared objective of maintaining a safe, orderly border that will facilitate the legal exchange of goods and services, thereby contributing to the well-being of Mexican and American communities.
They agreed over the need to maintain institutional efforts to achieve the integral modernization of the border. Investment in border infrastructure will promote an improvement scheme that goes beyond trade and is designed to deal with issues such as health, the environment, dealing with natural disasters and academic, social and cultural exchange.
They hailed the progress achieved in the construction of the two new border bridges in Anzaldúas and San Luis Río Colorado, the start of another bridge in Rio Bravo-Donna and work on the first railway crossing point in over a hundred years located in Alternativa Poniente in Matamoros.
President Calderón told his American counterpart of the need to reach a solution that will provide a solution to the haulage contractors’ conflict on the border, because of the impact this has on trade development, costs for consumers, regional competitiveness and the creation of jobs in both countries.
They discussed the actions carried out in the area of security. They agreed on the need to continue encouraging bilateral cooperation against the organized crime that operates on both sides of the border, on the basis of the principles of joint responsibility and respect for the legal framework of each country.
They hailed the importance of the High Level Group of Security and of their working groups, led by the Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretariat and the US Department of State and agreed that this organization would meet during the second half of this year.
As for the migratory issue, President Calderón hailed the political will shown by the US President in encouraging the US Congress to approve a reform in this area. The Mexican Head of State added that during this discussion, attention must be paid to the respect for migrants’ and their families’ human and labor rights, while US Society should acknowledge the enormous economic and cultural contribution of Mexican migrants to the United States.
They also reviewed the agenda on energy, environmental and climate change issues. They repeated their interest in taking advantage of the potential of the shared border to advance towards the development and transfer of clean energies and complement possible carbon markets between the two countries.
Within this framework, the two governments have discussed the creation of a possible framework of cooperation that could begin with a Carbon Compensation Program in the Mexican energy sector as well as other actions to offset deforestation, that could eventually lead both countries to a fully integrated system in North America regarding cap and trade.
They agreed over the importance of implementing the Green Fund proposal that will contribute to the International Community's efforts to leave a better environment to the upcoming generations by boosting countries' actual possibilities of having state-of-the-art technology that will support manufacturing programs to reduce the emission of greenhouse effect gases.
The two leaders also discussed the situation the region will face in the fall and winter regarding a possible new outbreak of the A/HINI influenza virus. They reviewed the measures adopted over the past few weeks that proved effecting in preventing the spread of this virus and other possible measures that should be implemented to deal with it again.
Lastly, the two leaders agreed to expand bilateral dialogue on the broad range of issues comprising the link between Mexico and the United States to maintain the Strategic Partnership established between the two administrations following their first working meeting in January 2009.
Posted August 10th, 2009 by Armen Hareyan
