Mexican Official Calls Texas Governor Rick Perry's Claims of ISIS Crossing US-Mexico Border 'Absurd'
On Saturday, Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Jose Antonio Meade responded to Texas Gov. Rick Perry's assertions that ISIS terrorists could be entering the United States through the Mexico border.
Last week, Perry said that "there is a very real possibility" that Islamic extremists "may have already" entered the U.S. through the "unsecured" Mexico-Texas border, CBS News reported.
"We have no clear evidence of that, but your common sense tells you, when we see the number of criminal activities that have occurred -- the assaults, the rapes, the murders -- by individuals who have come into this country illegally over the last five years, that if the idea that they would not be looking at and managing those types of attacks from that region is not a good place to be," he said.
Meade responded to Perry's statement at a press conference, saying the governor's comments were based on "beliefs, speculation and absolutely unfounded and absurd analysis," The Associated Press reports.
"It is very unfortunate that some people make foreign policy on the basis of beliefs, suppositions and completely unfounded and absurd analyses," he said according to EFE. "Mexico makes its public policy on the basis of intelligence, founded on analysis, and it reproves those who make public policy on the basis of beliefs and unfounded speculation."
According to Meade, Mexico and Texas have "a relationship of communities, a relationship of societies, of very important business communities." The country and state conduct trade totaling $196 billion annually, he said.
"To make foreign policy, you always have to have facts," Meade said. "Iit is always good to have information. It is always best to make it on the basis of the importance of the relationship."
On Friday, the Pentagon press secretary, Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, said that although there is "no indication" of ISIS crossing the Mexico border, it is something to monitor.
"That said, we do know they have aspirations to hit western targets, and it's something, as [Defense] Secretary Hagel said yesterday, that we've got to take seriously and with have to try to be ready for it," Kirby said on CNN, according to Dallas News.
On Friday, Ariel Moutsatsos, minister for public affairs at the embassy in Washington, disputed Perry's claims as well.
"The U.S. State Department, in its most recent report on terrorism in the world, dismissed the idea that any international terrorist groups were operating in Mexico, and in recent hours the Pentagon also publicly denied having any indication leading them to believe that terrorists are crossing into the United States from Mexico," Moutsatsos said.
---
Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of latinpost.com