Mexico signs agreement with Venezuela for the return of migrants; this offers them

The governments of Mexico and Venezuela signed an agreement for the return of Venezuelan migrants seeking to reach the United States, the Mexican Foreign Ministry announced this Thursday.

The agreement provides for the delivery of aid of US$110 per month for a semester, and facilities for finding employment through Mexican companies present in Venezuela, explained Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena.

“We have just signed an agreement with (…) President Nicolás Maduro, which is called ‘Return to the Homeland’“said the official during the usual press conference of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

“We are sending Venezuelans back to their country because we really cannot handle these quantities”he added.

The official maintained that the Mexican government agreed to grant aid similar to what it provides through its social programs.

“We give them six months of a stipend, $110 a month, which is wonderful for them, and then there is an incentive for them to return. We have already managed to repatriate a significant number of Venezuelans“Bárcena pointed out, without detailing the amount.

The chancellor added that the agreement includes agreements with the Venezuelan companies Polar and PDVSA, and with the Mexican companies Bimbo and FEMSA, to offer employment to those who return to Venezuela.

Bárcena recalled that Mexico maintains similar agreements with Guatemala and Honduras, and that it seeks to do the same with Colombia and Ecuador.

President López Obrador highlighted at the same conference that there has been a significant increase in the number of encounters of migrants from Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia and Honduras on the border between Mexico and the United States.

Thousands of migrants cross Mexico every year to reach US territory fleeing violence and poverty in their countries. The increase in flow has overwhelmed Mexican immigration facilities and shelters in the country’s border cities.

The immigration crisis has also become a hot potato for the government of President Joe Biden, who will seek re-election in the US presidential elections in November.

Last October, the Biden administration reached an agreement with Maduro for the direct repatriation of Venezuelans to their country. However, Caracas has suspended return flights in protest at Washington’s reactivation of sanctions.