(Bloomberg) -- Mexico will require Peruvians obtain a visa to enter the country in an effort to stem a “substantial increase” in the flow of migrants from the South American country.

The temporary action, starting later in April, reverses a visa exemption for Peruvians that had been in place since 2012, according to a statement from Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Ministry on Saturday. Peru responded by saying it would also impose a visa requirement on Mexicans seeking to visit its country.

Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has faced pressure from US officials to reduce migration to the US-Mexico border. Mexico has cracked down in a variety of ways and recently started a program directed at Venezuelans, and soon Colombians, that pays a stipend for them to return home. 

US Customs and Border Protection recorded encounters with nearly 20,000 Peruvians from October through February on the US’s southern border, in line with the number of Peruvians who arrived at that border in the previous five-month period. 

Political tensions between Mexico and Peru are also rising. Since the ousting of Peru’s President Pedro Castillo in 2022, Mexico’s government has expressed its disagreement with the new government led by Dina Boluarte, who is now also deeply unpopular among Peruvians.

Read More: Mexican Leader AMLO Joins List of Leftists Shunned by Peru

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