Mexico president heads to Guatemala to discuss migration, extradition

Reuters
Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto delivers a speech during an event to recognize the contributions made by members of the Mexican foreign service, in Mexico City, Mexico, April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto will travel to Guatemala to meet its leader Jimmy Morales on June 5 and 6, the Mexican president's office said in a statement on Wednesday. The two presidents agreed on the date in a phone call on Wednesday, according to the statement. The meeting comes as Mexico begins to take a larger role in the regional migration issue. The vast majority of Central American migrants heading for the United States enter Mexico by crossing the border from Guatemala, and the U.S. government has been leaning on Mexico to do more to make people stay. A Mexican diplomatic source said the visit was in part to offer support to Morales, whose family has become embroiled in a corruption scandal, and to discuss the extradition of Javier Duarte, a former ruling party governor and Pena Nieto ally who was arrested in the Central American country after fleeing graft and organized crime charges. (Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Paul Tait)