Latin American Foreign Ministers will Meet to Discuss Common Stance Against Trump

The meeting will be held in Mexico, where some foreign ministers will attend in person and others are expected to attend virtually, according to the Colombian foreign minister.  Colombia, Mexico and Honduras called a meeting of Latin American foreign ministers this Friday, January 17, in Mexico City to discuss ways to unify the position of Latin America and the Caribbean in light of the arrival of Donald Trump to the Presidency of the United States.  “Colombia, Mexico and Honduras are calling for a meeting of foreign ministers for the 17th to discuss as a region of Latin America and the Caribbean the implications and how we can unify positions in the face of the dialogue that we are going to have with the Administration of President Donald Trump,” explained the Colombian foreign minister, Luis Gilberto Murillo, in statements to the press. 

The meeting will be in Mexico City, where some foreign ministers will attend in person and others are expected to attend virtually, according to Murillo.  “The arrival of President Trump generates many expectations throughout the region. We hope to find common points of work,” added the Colombian foreign minister.  Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum revealed at her morning press conference in early January that she had spoken with her Honduran counterpart, Xiomara Castro, pro tempore president of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), about a meeting of foreign ministers to address the challenges of migration in the face of Trump’s arrival.  Sheinbaum noted “that it is important to give continuity to that conference that took place in Palenque related to migration with various countries,” in reference to the regional summit hosted in October 2023 by then Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-2024). 

“So, we raised the idea that in January the foreign ministers of various countries could meet to talk about the issue of migration and how we cooperate between the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean to address migration from the perspective of the causes,” said the Mexican president without giving further details.  “We have some concerns, not only Colombia but the region, with what has been said regarding the relationship with Mexico, what was said in relation to Panama, we know about the demonstrations around Canada,” said Murillo justifying the meeting in light of Trump’s latest statements on what he could try in his foreign policy. The next US president has already attacked Mexico and Panama, assuring that his southern neighbor is “essentially governed by the cartels” and “is really in trouble, it is a very dangerous place” and threatening Panama with taking back the interoceanic canal.  Trump reiterated last week “The Panama Canal is vital to our country. It is operated by China. We gave it to Panama, not China, and they have abused that gift. That decision should never have been made”.