Mexican leader lauds Trump despite past tariff threats, insults
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[July 09, 2020]
By Alexandra Alper and Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mexican President
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador lavished praise on President Donald Trump at
their first meeting on Wednesday, saying the U.S. leader treated Mexico
with respect despite his history of threatening tariffs and insulting
Mexicans.
The leftist Mexican leader made his first foreign trip as president to
the White House, where he and Trump accentuated the positive in their
public remarks while largely glossing over their differences on
business, illegal drugs and migration.
"What I most appreciate is that you have never tried to impose anything
on us that violates or damages our sovereignty," Lopez Obrador said in
Spanish, turning to look at Trump as the two spoke in the Rose Garden
before signing a joint declaration.
"You have never attempted to treat us like a colony," he added. "I am
here to say to the people of the United States that your president has
treated us with kindness and respect."
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The White House said the Mexican delegation, including Lopez Obrador,
were tested for the coronavirus before they met with Trump.
Mindful of the pandemic, which is still surging in Mexico and the United
States, the men did not shake hands when Trump greeted Lopez Obrador on
his arrival. Neither wore face masks.
There were no tangible signs of progress on such issues as
counter-narcotics and Lopez Obrador's attempts to renegotiate billions
of dollars worth of energy infrastructure contracts.
The two men signed a joint declaration that hailed the July 1 start of
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which replaced the North American
Free Trade Agreement that Trump, a Republican, reviled.
Trump said the countries were committed to "a shared future of
prosperity, security and harmony" and joked that he and leftist Lopez
Obrador had forged "a great relationship ... maybe against all odds."
Critics argued Trump aimed to use the visit to gain support among
Hispanic voters ahead of the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential election in which
he is expected to face Democrat Joe Biden.
Lopez Obrador was not scheduled to meet Biden, a former vice president
who is favored by Hispanic U.S. voters, according to opinion polls.
"For a man who said he wasn’t going to the United States to wade into
electoral waters, he did just that," said former Mexican ambassador to
the United States Arturo Sarukhan.
Lopez Obrador's comments about Trump being respectful toward Mexicans
will have left migrant leaders "completely aghast," Sarukhan added.
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![](../images/070920pics/news_x45.jpg)
President Donald Trump welcomes Mexico’s President Andres Manuel
Lopez Obrador as he arrives for meetings at the White House in
Washington, U.S., July 8, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Brenner
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But Porfirio Munoz Ledo, a congressman from Lopez Obrador's National
Regeneration Movement (MORENA) who at times criticizes his own
government, said the visit was a tribute to the Mexican leader's
diplomatic skills.
"It's exemplary," he said, saying Trump treated his Mexican guest
with respect and defied the expectations of some critics to show him
up.
Lopez Obrador brushed off criticism at home to meet Trump, who is
widely disliked in Mexico because of his incendiary remarks.
Trump described Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug runners
during his 2015-16 presidential election campaign and vowed to make
Mexico pay for his planned border wall.
In May 2019, Trump threatened tariffs against Mexico to force it to
reduce the number of illegal immigrants entering the United States.
He only backed off after Lopez Obrador agreed to deploy security
forces and other steps to stem the flow of Central American
migrants.
On Twitter, Biden accused Trump of fomenting racism.
"Trump launched his 2016 campaign by calling Mexicans rapists,"
Biden wrote. "He's spread racism against our Latino community ever
since."
Trump hosted a dinner for Lopez Obrador and prominent U.S. and
Mexican executives, including Mexico's richest man, telecoms magnate
Carlos Slim; Bernardo Gomez, co-chief executive officer of media
company Televisa Group; and retail and media tycoon Ricardo Salinas
Pliego.
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(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Alexandra Alpert; Additional reporting
by Tim Ahmann, Daphne Psaledakis and Mohammed Zargham in Washington
and by Dave Graham, Drazen Jorgic and Frank Jack Daniel in Mexico
City; Writing by Drazen Jorgic and Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Peter
Cooney, Alistair Bell and Leslie Adler)
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