(Bloomberg) -- Just days after Mexico announced a plan to provide Venezuelans who agree to return to their homelands with jobs and a $660-dollar stipend, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he’s in talks to extend that plan to Colombia and Ecuador. 

The amount and timeline of the project has not yet been determined, but talks are ongoing with the two Latin American countries, which have signed an intention letter on the project, said Lopez Obrador at a morning press conference on Tuesday. Discussions also involve companies such as Fomento Economico Mexicano SAB and Grupo Bimbo SAB to provide migrants with jobs. 

He did not specify the number of migrants who would receive the stipend in Latin America.

Read More: Mexico to Offer Venezuelans Jobs, $660 Stipend to Return Home

AMLO, as the president is known, also criticized the US for not investing enough in Latin America to address the root causes of migration. He said US lawmakers are more focused on militarization of borders.

“We’re always looking to convince US authorities, but it’s very hard,” he said. “We’ve proven that when we invest in countries at their place of origin, the migratory flow is diminished.”

Mexico faces pressure from US officials to cut the number of migrants at the countries’ shared border ahead of elections this year.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.