- Roberto Velasco presents the Foreign Ministry's work plan for North America to the Senate and receives the joint commissions’ best wishes for the success of the tasks entrusted to him.
- The Foreign Ministry reaffirms its readiness to work with the Senate to carry out a diplomacy of national unity.
The joint Senate Foreign Relations Commission and the Foreign Relations Commission for North America met yesterday in an exercise of dialogue and accountability with the Director General and Chargé d'Affaires for North American Affairs, Roberto Velasco, who presented the Foreign Ministry's work plan for the region.
The Foreign Ministry official welcomed the opportunity to have a discussion with the Senate. He detailed the Foreign Ministry's priorities, goals and guidelines both for the bilateral relationships with Washington, D.C. and Ottawa, and at the regional level as a whole. He noted that there are areas of convergence on health cooperation, economic development and migration with the administrations of both President Joseph Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The highest priority of the Foreign Ministry is to support and protect the Mexicans living abroad. The consular network will be ready to help with documentation services so that, for example, our fellow citizens in the United States can participate in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
The consular network will continue to improve the services provided to Mexicans abroad. The Director General for North America highlighted, for example, the new electronic passports and the new Mexitel appointment system. “We are modernizing the national identity documents in order to ensure that the data of all Mexicans is secure. At the same time, we will investigate and combat all attempts to sell appointments to our citizens. We will not allow any type of corruption," he said.
In collaboration with the Institute for Mexicans Abroad, the consular network will expand the services it offers to our fellow citizens, which include the Health Windows, financial and educational guidance, and comprehensive support for women. He highlighted the efforts to provide Covid-19 vaccinations for our communities in North America, mentioning the opening of the new vaccination module at the Consulate General of Mexico in Houston.
In addition, the Government of Mexico will promote projects to modernize the infrastructure on the U.S. border to make trade more efficient and to stop the trafficking of drugs and people and--especially important for our national security--of ammunition and high-caliber weapons to Mexico, as well as child pornography and child sex tourism in the region.
After the presentation, there was a question and answer period with the senators. At the conclusion of the meeting, the president of the Foreign Relations Commission, Héctor Vasconcelos, said, "the Senate is pleased to have had this meeting on the planned activities and responsibilities related to Nroth America." On behalf of the joint commissions, he expressed their "best wishes for the success of the tasks entrusted to Mr. Velasco."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses its appreciation for the dialogue and its joint work with the Senate. In North America and every other region, the Foreign Ministry reaffirms its readiness to work with the Senate to carry out a diplomacy of national unity.
