- Title: Mexican officials rally behind Pena Nieto after he scraps meeting with Trump
- Date: 26th January 2017
- Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (JANUARY 26, 2017) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF NEWS CONFERENCE WITH MEXICAN POLITICIANS REPORTERS TAKING NOTES DEPUTY FINANCE MINISTER VANESSA RUBIO ON PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) DEPUTY FINANCE MINISTER VANESSA RUBIO, SAYING: "Mexico will not pay in case the United States decides to continue construction of that wall. It seems to us that the intention that Mexico should pay for this wall, is an absurd approach, is an unacceptable approach and Mexico defends and will continue to defend its sovereignty with great determination, with much decision, because Mexico's sovereignty is not up for negotiation." END OF NEWS CONFERENCE MIGUEL BARBOSA, SENATE LEADER OF THE LEFTIST OPPOSITION PARTY OF THE DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION, DURING EVENT POLITICIANS AT EVENT (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MIGUEL BARBOSA, SENATE LEADER OF THE LEFTIST OPPOSITION PARTY OF THE DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION, SAYING: "He did the right thing. President Pena responded and reacted promptly on deciding not to attend that meeting, not meeting, that appointment that President Trump had made to the presidents of Canada and Mexico." BARBOSA DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MIGUEL BARBOSA, SENATE LEADER OF THE LEFTIST OPPOSITION PARTY OF THE DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION, SAYING: "It [the meeting] can't happen and President Pena cannot be exposed, exposed to be attacked, to be exhibited or to have to confrontation of a very strong matter in terms of international diplomacy."
- Embargoed: 9th February 2017 20:55
- Keywords: Pena Nieto wall Trump senators
- Location: MEXICO CITY AND CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO
- City: MEXICO CITY AND CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO
- Country: Mexico
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00160PZ4UF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Mexican officials rallied behind the decision of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Thursday (January 26) to scrap a planned meeting with Donald Trump in the face of insistent tweets from the U.S. president demanding Mexico pay for a border wall.
The cancelled meeting has deepened rift that threatens Mexican efforts to salvage trade ties.
Pena Nieto, responding to a Twitter message from Trump saying it would be better for him not to come to the meeting if Mexico would not pay for the wall, said in his own tweet that he would not attend and had informed the White House of this.
Trump later presented the scrapped plan as a mutual agreement. Addressing Republican members of Congress at a meeting in Philadelphia, he said he and Pena Nieto had agreed to cancel the meeting, adding it would be fruitless if Mexico did not treat the United States "fairly".
Pena Nieto had plenty of support at home.
"Mexico will not pay in case the United States decides to continue construction of that wall. It seems to us that the intention that Mexico should pay for this wall, is an absurd approach, is an unacceptable approach and Mexico defends and will continue to defend its sovereignty with great determination, with much decision, because Mexico's sovereignty is not up for negotiation," Deputy Finance Minister Vanessa Rubio, said.
Miguel Barbosa, Senate leader of the leftist opposition party of the Democratic Revolution, said he also supported Pena Nieto.
"He did the right thing. President Pena responded and reacted promptly on deciding not to attend that meeting, not meeting, that appointment that President Trump had made to the presidents of Canada and Mexico," Barbosa said.
"It [the meeting] can't happen and President Pena cannot be exposed, exposed to be attacked, to be exhibited or to have to confrontation of a very strong matter in terms of international diplomacy," Barbosa added.
The White House left open the door for a possible rapprochement: White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the United States was keeping open lines of communication with Mexico and looking to reschedule the meeting, which had been planned for Tuesday.
Trump views the wall, a major promise during his election campaign, as part of a package of measures to curb illegal immigration. Mexico has long insisted it will not pay for such a project.
Trump, who took office last Friday, signed an executive order for construction of the wall on Wednesday, just as a Mexican delegation led by Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray arrived at the White House for talks with Trump aides aimed at healing ties.
The timing of that, and Trump's reiterated call for Mexico to foot the bill, caused outrage in Mexico, with prominent politicians and many on social media seeing at as a deliberate snub to the government's efforts to engage with Trump, who has for months used Mexico as a political punching bag.
Relations have been frayed since Trump launched his campaign in 2015, characterizing Mexican migrants as murderers and rapists and pledging to build a wall that he said Mexico would pay for.
Trade ties are in the balance after Trump vowed to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and slap high tariffs on American companies that have moved jobs south of the border.
Mexico's peso, which has fallen sharply against the U.S. dollar in the face of Trump's stances on trade and immigration, extended losses to 1 percent after Pena Nieto fired off his tweet, before paring losses. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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