President López Obrador refused to engage his United States counterpart today on the issue of migration, saying that he prefers to have conversations in an “environment of friendship.”
When asked by UnoTV reporter Melina Ochoa about a tweet sent yesterday by U.S. President Donald Trump criticizing Mexico’s supposedly lax immigration policy, López Obrador emphasized the positive aspects of the relationship between the two countries.
“While tariffs are going up and a trade war is starting between the United States and China, we have been able to get the United States to drop tariffs on steel, which is very good,” he said.
He went on to say that he does pay attention to Trump’s statements about Mexico, but prefers to “act with prudence” and avoid publicly responding to them.
López Obrador confirmed that he had seen the Trump tweet, but carefully avoided mentioning any specifics about it.
…Mexico’s attitude is that people from other countries, including Mexico, should have the right to flow into the U.S. & that U.S. taxpayers should be responsible for the tremendous costs associated w/this illegal migration. Mexico is wrong and I will soon be giving a response!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 21, 2019
“Yes, I am aware of the message sent yesterday about his point of view on an issue I’m not even going to mention,” he said. “But — love and peace.”
The tweet in question, sent by the U.S. president Tuesday morning, criticized Mexico for what he sees as a failure to prevent migration towards the United States and included a vague threat of a U.S. “response.”
“I am very disappointed that Mexico is doing virtually nothing to stop illegal immigrants from coming to our Southern Border . . .” the tweet reads. “Mexico’s attitude is that people from other countries, including Mexico, should have the right to flow into the U.S. & that U.S. taxpayers should be responsible for the tremendous costs associated w/ this illegal migration. Mexico is wrong and I will soon be giving a response!”
Source: Milenio (sp), El Financiero (sp)
