Mexico on Thursday expressed “worry and irritation” about US policies to two of US President Donald Trump’s top envoys, giving a chilly reply to the new administration’s hard line on immigration, trade and security.
Comments by Trump about a “military operation” to deport criminals added to the tense atmosphere and prompted a clarification from US Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, one of the officials visiting Mexico City.
Washington angered Mexico this week by saying it was seeking to deport many illegal immigrants to Mexico if they entered the US from there, regardless of nationality.
Photo: AFP
It is the latest point of friction between neighbors that have also been at odds over Trump’s vow to build a wall on the border and his attempts to browbeat Mexico into giving concessions on trade.
“There exists among Mexicans worry and irritation about what are perceived to be policies that could be harmful for the national interest and for Mexicans here and abroad,” Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Luis Videgaray told a news conference.
He was speaking after talks in the Mexican capital with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Kelly, who later met with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.
The Mexican leader scrapped a summit meeting with Trump last month as tensions increased.
Tillerson and Kelly emphasized traditionally strong US-Mexico ties and both sides pledged further dialogue on migration, trade and security issues. Pena Nieto said the talks were a sign of the will to build a constructive relationship.
However, two Mexican newspapers leaked comments from Videgaray that bolstered the perception that Mexico is taking a more robust approach to its dealings with Trump, following jibes that Pena Nieto should stand up to his counterpart.
If the US taxes imports from Mexico, there will be a response that “hits them where it hurts,” La Jornada and Reforma reported Videgaray as saying, based on recordings obtained of a closed-door session with lawmakers on Wednesday.
Videgaray warned of counter-taxes and tariffs targeting US congressional districts most reliant on exports to Mexico if Trump started limiting trade.
Kelly and Tillerson were more measured in their words than either the Mexicans or Trump, who on Thursday said a military operation was being carried out to clear “bad dudes,” such as gang members and drug lords, from the US.
Kelly said there would be “no use of military force in immigration operations,” and “no, repeat, no” mass deportations.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump’s comment was meant to describe the “flawless” manner that US immigration and border authorities worked.
Mexico relies heavily on exports to its neighbor, but stakes are also high for the US, not least because a breakdown in relations with Mexico could affect extensive cooperation on the fight against narcotics and stemming the flow of Central American illegal immigrants that reach the US border.
Mexican Secretary of the Interior Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said the two countries needed to strengthen intelligence sharing, as well as take more action to stem the flow of weapons and drug money from the US and to shut down criminal organizations.
“Mexico needs the United States, and the United States also needs Mexico. Our countries will always be neighbors so the best thing would be to have agreements that work for both equally,” Osorio Chong said in comments at the Mexican Secretariat of Foreign Affairs.
In a concession to Mexican concerns, Kelly and Tillerson acknowledged the need to stop arms and drug proceeds moving south, and praised Mexico’s extensive programs to turn back Central American immigrants traveling north.
“There is no mistaking that the rule of law matters along both sides of our border,” Tillerson said.
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