AMERICA/EL SALVADOR - For the Bishops, military forces do not solve the problem of migration, a solution is needed for the region

San Salvador (Agenzia Fides) - "It is a pity that migrants are seen as criminals, and that they are detained even before arriving in the country of destination", said Mgr. José Luis Escobar Alas, Archbishop of San Salvador, during his habitual meeting with journalists on Sunday 9 June at the Cathedral of the Salvadoran capital. The Archbishop deplored Mexico's decision to detain undocumented Central American immigrants under pressure from the United States.
According to information gathered by Fides, after an agreement reached on the evening of Friday 7 June, the United States decided not to apply the 5% tariff to all products imported from Mexico in exchange of a deployment of six thousand members of the National Guard to stop the passage of Central American migrants and other nations towards the United States.
The note sent to Fides reports the words of the Archbishop: "It is sad that Mexico, which had shown humanity for migrants under the rule of Manuel Andrés López Obrador, can no longer maintain that policy because they have folded their arms". In order to stop irregular migration, it is necessary to solve the problems of the countries of origin of these people, "instead of proceeding in a way that goes against all human rights, with injustice and violence, towards these peoples" said Mgr. Escobar Alas.
A significant fact regarding this modern phenomenon of migration is the fact that in 2018 El Salvador obtained a record in family remittances, with 5 thousand 468 million dollars, which are sent mostly by 2.5 million Salvadorans resident in the United States . Remittances are equivalent to about 16% of El Salvador's gross domestic product (GDP), which is an important support for the dollarized economy.
Some Mexican bishops, such as Bishop José Guadalupe Torres Campos, Bishop of Ciudad Juarez, also commented on the Mexican government's position: "In this way we do not know who can benefit from this type of decision" he told the local press. He then added: "In Mexico we have always refused the militarization of the border of our neighbor country, now we are doing it. Not only with the northern border, but also with the southern one".
Even the Bishop of Saltillo, Mgr. Raul Vera Lopez, stressed that Mexico will act as security guard of the northern country, but "the military forces in the South do not solve the problem of migration". Mgr. Vera Lopez, who is well aware of the situation in the area because he was Bishop in Chiapas, said: "The solution must be sought for the whole region, not with the military at the border. Mexico had also said it was possible to propose a plan to improve the economic situation of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, this was a right path". (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 11/06/2019)

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