Brazil and Mexico address political and integration issues

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Wednesday, February 16, Brazilian and Mexican diplomats held a meeting of the Political Affairs subcommittee of the Binational Commission of both countries to address regional integration issues, informed the Mexican Foreign Ministry in a press release.

Mexico stressed that this year, it would hold the pro tempore presidency of the Pacific Alliance (Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru) and expressed its willingness to advance in the matters agreed between this bloc and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay), “with a view to the reactivation and post-pandemic economic recovery”, the text indicates.

The representatives of the two largest Latin American economies highlighted the coincidence of Mexico and Brazil as non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council during 2022.

“The two delegations exchanged perspectives on the regional and multilateral situation,” states a communiqué from the parties headed by the Mexican Vice Foreign Minister for Latin America, Maximiliano Reyes, and the Brazilian Secretary for Bilateral and Regional Negotiations, Pedro Miguel da Costa.

BILATERAL PRAGMATISM

The teams from both countries noted “the level of understanding, pragmatism, and strength that characterizes the bilateral relationship to identify coincidences and new areas of opportunity”, adds the text.

The objective of these efforts is to reach mutually convenient agreements for both countries and the region. Among these agreements, the “collaboration in migration, defense and security matters between both countries” stands out.

The bilateral migration policy is “aimed at training personnel and exchanging best practices and strengthening actions for joint work to combat the trafficking of migrants and persons”.

The parties advanced in one of the commitments made between the Mexican Foreign Minister, Marcelo Ebrard, and his Brazilian counterpart, Carlos França, during their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders’ Summit held in Rome in October 2021.

The heads of both diplomacies agreed “to hold the fifth meeting of the Binational Commission, the highest mechanism for institutional political dialogue, which is scheduled to meet in Mexico City next April”.

During the meeting, the representatives expressed their mutual interest in strengthening and intensifying the relationship between the two countries, “both at the political level and in the economic, commercial and cooperation fields”.

As part of the dialogue, they reviewed the legal framework under negotiation, including the Treaty on Serving Criminal Sentences Abroad.

The officials welcomed the forthcoming signing of the Extradition Treaty, which will renew the one signed in 1933 and two memorandums of understanding between the Institute of Mexican Diplomacy “Matias Romero” and the Rio Branco Institute in the field of academic-diplomatic collaboration.

Another agreement is strengthening the Alexandre de Gusmão Foundation (Funag) on research and academic activities.