ADVERTISEMENT

Mexico reviews cooperation with US over 'blatant' tension

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has ordered all federal government departments to re-evaluate bilateral cooperation, his office said -- a review Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said was a direct response to recent tension.

Trump has stoked anger in Mexico by ordering thousands of National Guard troops to the border and attacking the Mexican government on Twitter over its supposed failure to stop an influx of drugs and undocumented migrants into the United States.

Videgaray said the areas under review would include the vital issues of trade and security, among them the two countries' extensive cooperation to fight international drug trafficking.

"Given the current climate and the very public and blatant differences we currently have with the government of the United States, President Enrique Pena Nieto will be making decisions," Videgaray told Mexican radio network Formula.

ADVERTISEMENT

He said the president had not yet decided to suspend or reduce cooperation in any area. But he left the possibility open, with a veiled warning to Trump.

"We are entering an evaluation phase, and it must be an ongoing evaluation of the facts as they stand," he said.

"Trump's rhetoric and tone... do matter, they do affect the relationship, and we can't remain immobile forever."

The latest rise in US-Mexican tension began with days of angry tweets from Trump over a caravan of more than 1,000 Central American migrants crossing Mexico toward the United States.

A visibly offended Pena Nieto gave a national address Thursday after Trump announced his decision to deploy the National Guard to the border, warning his American counterpart that "threatening attitudes and a lack of respect" were out of line.

ADVERTISEMENT

Mexico also summoned US Ambassador Roberta Jacobson over Trump's contested comment that women in the caravan were being "raped at levels that nobody has ever seen before." She is due to meet with Mexican officials Tuesday.

Trump also threatened to axe what he called Mexico's "cash cow," the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), over the caravan.

Last year, Washington triggered a renegotiation of that deal, which also includes Canada, after Trump called it a "disaster" for the United States.

Those negotiations are ongoing. Despite the spike in tension, Trump said a new deal was "fairly close," while Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said there was an 80 percent chance of reaching a preliminary agreement by the first week in May.

Relations between the two countries have been tense since Trump won election in 2016 with a campaign heavy on anti-Mexican rhetoric and promises to build a border wall.

ADVERTISEMENT

Pena Nieto has twice canceled plans to visit Washington over Trump's insistence that Mexico pay for the wall.

'Toys, not guns'

Some 20 busloads of migrants from the caravan meanwhile arrived in Mexico City.

Carrying their meager belongings in plastic bags, some 600 migrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua arrived at a shelter and then went to pray at the nearby shrine to the Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico's patron saint.

Organizers of the migrant caravan announced last week the group would no longer try to travel to the US border en masse.

ADVERTISEMENT

The caravan -- a yearly event that activists say is mainly about raising awareness of the perils migrants face, not crossing the border -- will end its activities this week with a series of rallies and meetings in the Mexican capital.

Mexican authorities are granting the migrants temporary visas to either apply for refugee status in Mexico or leave the country -- whether for the United States or elsewhere.

Traveling with his wife and four children, his eyes red from exhaustion, 41-year-old migrant Ignacio Viatorio questioned Trump's troop deployment.

"No one here is armed. All we've got are toys," he said.

Arizona deployed its first 225 National Guard members to the Mexican border, joining Texas, which announced Friday it was moving 250 troops to the border along with aircraft, vehicles and equipment.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Pentagon has ordered the deployment of up to 4,000 National Guard members to the border.

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Unblock notifications in browser settings.
ADVERTISEMENT

Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:

Email: eyewitness@pulse.ng

Recommended articles

Reps vow to retrieve sold Govt helicopters, summon aviation ministers

Reps vow to retrieve sold Govt helicopters, summon aviation ministers

Distress of abducted Kuriga school children led to successful rescue - DHQ

Distress of abducted Kuriga school children led to successful rescue - DHQ

Reps halt NASU's strike to resolve dispute between FG, universities

Reps halt NASU's strike to resolve dispute between FG, universities

Lagos VIS seizes 50 unroadworthy vehicles in enforcement operation

Lagos VIS seizes 50 unroadworthy vehicles in enforcement operation

Aiyedatiwa sends 12 commissioner nominees to Ondo Assembly for confirmation

Aiyedatiwa sends 12 commissioner nominees to Ondo Assembly for confirmation

Woman saves animal from the streets — then she finds out it is something else

Woman saves animal from the streets — then she finds out it is something else

Alake calls on Badaru to fish out illegal miners, violators of mining laws

Alake calls on Badaru to fish out illegal miners, violators of mining laws

Divers find bodies of 2 people who drowned after Baltimore bridge collapsed

Divers find bodies of 2 people who drowned after Baltimore bridge collapsed

INEC rejects LP's National convention in Anambra, questions venue change

INEC rejects LP's National convention in Anambra, questions venue change

Pulse Sports

Nigeria vs Mali: Has Finidi George done enough to land Super Eagles job permanently?

Nigeria vs Mali: Has Finidi George done enough to land Super Eagles job permanently?

I want to emulate Keshi and win the AFCON - Finidi George shares ambitious Super Eagles dream

I want to emulate Keshi and win the AFCON - Finidi George shares ambitious Super Eagles dream

Michelle Alozie: I had to do it because of African referees

Michelle Alozie: I had to do it because of African referees

AC Milan star reveals he was named after Super Eagles legend Tijani Babangida

AC Milan star reveals he was named after Super Eagles legend Tijani Babangida

Give him the job! Super Eagles fans beg NFF to make Finidi George permanent coach after Nigeria's win over Ghana

Give him the job! Super Eagles fans beg NFF to make Finidi George permanent coach after Nigeria's win over Ghana

Super Eagles 2-1 Black Stars: Nigerians praise Iwobi, Lookman, Finidi George after friendly victory against Ghana

Super Eagles 2-1 Black Stars: Nigerians praise Iwobi, Lookman, Finidi George after friendly victory against Ghana

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT