Mexico's president starts regional tour in Guatemala

Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has started a lightning, five-day tour to four Central American countries and Cuba, stopping first in neighboring Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY -- Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador started a lightning, five-day tour to four Central American countries and Cuba on Thursday, stopping first in neighboring Guatemala.

Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard wrote in his social media accounts that meetings with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei and other officials focused on development, migration and strengthening bilateral ties.

López Obrador hopes to stem the poverty and joblessness that sends tens of thousands of Guatemalans north — crossing Mexico to reach the United States — by expanding his tree-planting program to Central America.

The program known as “Planting Life” pays farmers a monthly wage to plant and care for fruit and lumber trees on their farms.