Mexico seeks stronger U.S. ties despite
Trump campaign barbs
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[January 21, 2017]
By Adriana Barrera
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's president
said on Friday he wanted to strengthen relations with his new U.S.
counterpart Donald Trump, whose threats and barbs against the country
raised fears of a major economic crisis, and battered its currency.
President Enrique Pena Nieto, pilloried at home for meeting Trump in
August after the New York businessman called Mexican migrants rapists
and murderers, said on Twitter he would defend the interests of Mexico
and its people in a "respectful" dialogue.
"We will work to strengthen our relationship with shared
responsibility," said Pena Nieto, who likened Trump's rise to the ascent
of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini after the American's broadsides
early in the election campaign.
Trump vowed to build a wall along the U.S. southern border to keep
Mexicans out and threatened to tear up a joint trade deal if he cannot
recast it in favor of the United States.
The White House website said on Friday that Trump was committed to
renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which
underpins Mexico's economy, and would move to withdraw if no "fair deal"
is forthcoming.
Mexico's government said Pena Nieto will make a foreign policy address
on Monday morning, a few days before a delegation of senior Mexican
officials travel to Washington to discuss relations with top Trump
advisers.
The delegation will be led by Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray, who said
in an interview late on Friday that he will meet with senior White House
aides as well as newly-confirmed U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Gen.
John Kelly.
Videgaray pledged to "negotiate without fear" and said he will work to
ensure that remittances sent from Mexicans living in the United States
to relatives back home are protected from any seizure.
Trump's inauguration was marked by subdued protests across Mexico. One
political activist on Mexico City's main thoroughfare held up a banner
declaring "Racist, gringo Trump...son of Satan, you are a danger to the
world."
More than three-quarters of Mexicans hold a bad or very bad opinion of
Trump, according to a poll of 600 people by polling firm Gabinete de
Comunicacion Estrategica (GCE).
Trump has threatened to slap hefty tariffs on Mexican-made goods,
sending the peso to a string of historic lows against the dollar.
Concern about him is widespread.
"Trump if you are Christian, don't crucify Mexicans," migrant activist
Sergio Tamay wrote on a fuschia-colored sign at a migrant protest in the
northern border city of Mexicali.
Still, Mexico's peso was the strongest-performing among the top 10
most-traded currencies after Trump's inaugural address in Washington
made no mention of the country. It was up more than 1.6 percent at
21.582 per dollar in the early afternoon.
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Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto speaks to the audience during
a meeting with members of the Diplomatic Corps in Mexico City,
Mexico January 11, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso
UNPOPULAR PRESIDENT
The GCE poll also showed fear about Trump's impact on the country's
material well-being. Eighty percent of Mexicans see an economic
crisis and falling investment as very or somewhat likely during
Trump's administration, it showed.
On Friday, his strategy of pressuring companies directly to move
jobs back to the United States also fueled protests outside a Ford
Motor Company store in Mexico City.
"No to terrorism against free companies," said a sign at the
protest, where demonstrators pummeled piñatas of Trump.
This month, Ford canceled a planned $1.6 billion factory in Mexico,
saying it would instead invest $700 million in Michigan, after a
similar move by United Technologies Corp's Carrier unit a few weeks
after Trump's election win in November.
Some Mexicans questioned whether Trump would be as tough on the
country once bound by the responsibilities of office.
"Campaign promises are one thing, but what you're going to do as
president is a different matter," said Pedro Pena, a worker at a
parcel delivery firm in Ixmiquilpan, a town north of Mexico City
which many migrants have left for the United States.
Nevertheless, Pena Nieto is not in a strong position. His approval
ratings are the lowest for any president in years, and there is
simmering discontent over a gasoline price hike this month that
spurred nationwide protests and looting.
"Pena Nieto is a cancer, he is inept, people don't want him there,"
said Efrain Monter, a retired engineer in Actopan in the central
state of Hidalgo. "He promised lots of things, to lower electricity
prices, water and now he is doing the opposite."
(Additional reporting by Veronica Gomez, Michael O'Boyle, Lizbeth
Diaz, Carlos Jasso, Christine Murray, Alexandra Alper and Noe
Torres; Writing by Dave Graham; Editing by Simon Gardner and Grant
McCool)
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