Mexico on Criticisms From U.S. Presidential Campaign Trail: 'Think of Our Country as an Opportunity, not as a Threat'
Mexico has a plan on how to address the anti-Mexican tirade currently seen in the U.S. presidential campaign trail.
Francisco Guzman, an official from President Enrique Peña Nieto's administration, said on Tuesday that the Mexican government plans to detail the benefits of a good relationship between the United States and Mexico, the Associated Press reported (via ABC News). Mexico will do this by sharing information to the chosen Democratic and Republican nominees' campaigns about how Mexico is "an opportunity" to the United States and "not a threat."
According to Guzman, Mexico's consulates in the United States will hold meetings with organizations and public opinion heads. They will discuss Mexicans' contributions to the American economy, the news outlet further reported.
Guzman swore that Mexico will not launch into a harsh confrontation against the candidates.
"We could win the front page of all the newspapers here or in other places with a swear word and the next day that would not be good for anyone," he said, as quoted by the AP. "What the government will do is deploy a greater effort to counteract the misinformation about the bilateral relationship, about the contributions of Mexican immigrants to the United States, but in a very neutral way. It is not to go against one candidate."
Mexican Politicians Fire Back
Last week, two former Mexican presidents, Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón, criticized Donald Trump's proposal of building a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border. The GOP frontrunner has been making anti-immigrant remarks since he launched his presidential campaign.
Fox said that Mexico is not going to pay for Trump's wall, Fusion reported. He also insisted that a Trump presidency would not benefit Latinos in the United States.
Calderón stressed that closing the borders would be a huge trade loss for the U.S., calling Trump's wall "completely useless" and "stupid," according to CNBC.
VP Biden Apologizes
In his visit to Mexico City in February, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden offered an apology for his political colleagues' statements against Mexican immigrants. He insisted that the Republican nominees' views do not represent the American people, calling the GOP candidates' remarks "disturbing" and "incredibly ill-advised," CNN reported.
Peña Nieto said that closing the borders would just isolate the United States.
"This is to be alone. It may look in one way like you're closing passage to a place, but seen another way it is isolation," Mexico's president said, as quoted in a separate report from the AP (via ABC News).
U.S. Internal Secretary Sally Jewell recently said the economies of the United States and Mexico are "inextricably linked," the AP added.
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