Guatemalan Foreign Minister Carlos Ramiro Martinez Alvarado, left, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken pose for a group photo at the National Palace in Guatemala City, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Blinken is in Guatemala for a two-day visit where he will attend a regional meeting on irregular migration. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Guatemalan Foreign Minister Carlos Ramiro Martinez Alvarado, front row, second from left, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, front row, third from left, pose for a group photo with other regional representatives at the National Palace in Guatemala City, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Blinken is in Guatemala for a two-day visit where he will attend a regional meeting on irregular migration. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Guatemalan Foreign Minister Carlos Ramiro Martinez Alvarado, front row, fifth from left, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, front row, sixth from left, pose for a group photo with other regional representatives at the National Palace in Guatemala City, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Blinken is in Guatemala for a two-day visit where he will attend a regional meeting on irregular migration. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo, center, shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the National Palace in Guatemala City, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Blinken is in Guatemala for a two-day visit where he will attend a regional meeting on irregular migration. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, meets with Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo ahead of a ministerial meeting on migration at the National Palace in Guatemala City, May 7, 2024. Blinken is in Guatemala for a two-day visit where he will attend a regional meeting on irregular migration. (Josue Decavele/Pool photo via AP)
Western Hemisphere nations pledge to continue coordinating response to historic regional migration
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Representatives from 22 Western Hemisphere countries gathered in Guatemala renewed their commitment Tuesday to continue offering legal pathways to enter their countries, to provide aid to communities most affected by migration and to coordinate their response to manage immigration flows.
Guatemalan Foreign Minister Carlos Ramiro Martinez Alvarado, left, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken pose for a group photo at the National Palace in Guatemala City, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Blinken is in Guatemala for a two-day visit where he will attend a regional meeting on irregular migration. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Representatives from 22 Western Hemisphere countries gathered in Guatemala renewed their commitment Tuesday to continue offering legal pathways to enter their countries, to provide aid to communities most affected by migration and to coordinate their response to manage immigration flows.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted that progress had been made in all of those areas during the past two years. Still, the region saw record migration last year both separating Colombia and Panama and at the U.S. border.
Two years ago, leaders from across the hemisphere signed the a U.S.-led attempt to coordinate a regional response to historic levels of migration.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
“At the core of our efforts is the message that individuals should take advantage of lawful pathways rather than make the dangerous journey north,” Blinken said during a news conference with Guatemala President Bernardo Arévalo Tuesday morning.
He said the Biden administration would work with the U.S. Congress to come up with another $578 million in aid to countries in the hemisphere hosting migrants.
Signatory countries also said they would set up a coordinating body to evaluate countries’ progress in meeting their commitments.
Guatemala committed to expanding access to offices where migrants can be screened and receive information about legal pathways. They had been limited to only Guatemalans, but now will also assist Hondurans, Salvadorans and Nicaraguans.
Mexico Foreign Affairs Secretary Alicia Bárcena said via the social platform X, formerly Twitter, that her country and the U.S. were on the same page: “Our presidents share the interest in taking on the structural causes of migration in the region and tackling shared challenges.”
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