The President of Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto, is scheduled to meet with two of Trump’s top officials in a few days to discuss trade, security, and immigration issues. Mexico’s President is facing increased populist pressure from his country which is the main reason why the meeting will be held.
White House spokesperson, Sean Spicer, told the media at a news conference that two of Trump’s officials will be meeting the President of Mexico. “Pres. Trump is committed to renegotiate NAFTA or the North American Free Trade Agreement,” stated Spicer. Apparently, Trump will withdraw if no ‘fair deal’ will be made from the leaders of Mexico.
Pena Nieto’s popularity plummeted because of several corruption scandals, as well as the rising inflation. However, he is further criticized because he lacked a clear strategy in countering the threats of Trump which were to deport illegal immigrants and to crimp trade.
To capitalize on Mexico’s discontent with their leader, 2018 Mexican presidential forerunner, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, revealed that he will be touring the major cities of the US. According to him, he is already done with being passive and accepting of Trump’s threats. He also thinks that there is a need to create an emergency plan on a national level. This is to face the possible damages that will be inflicted to Mexico because of Trump and to reverse Trump’s protectionist policies.
A.M. Lopez Obrador is a former mayor of Mexico City and is mounting his 3rd presidential bid. In a rally at Ciudad Acuna’s border city, he said that the hate that’s promoted by a propaganda which is against migrants needs to be put to a stop.
A lot of people in Mexico are getting restless and anxious about Trump’s promise that he just made recently which was to make Mexico pay for the costs of putting up a border wall.
“We should not be paying for the border wall,” exclaimed Christina Validez who was in line to pick up wire transfers from her husband working in the US. “The United States should be grateful that migrants from all over the world helped their economy. If they want to put up a wall, then they should take responsibility for the costs.”
Ixmiquilpan, Hidalgo’s central state, receives around $100 million every single year in foreign remittances. This is according to the central bank of Mexico. The figure, surprisingly, is more than ten times of the municipal’s annual budget.
Validez and millions of families in Mexico depend on remittances from the US in order to survive in the country. Validez complained that everything in Mexico is getting more and more expensive because the government hiked gasoline prices about 14% just this year.
Violent protests and looting have followed the country’s latest regular gasoline hike. At least two people died because of clashes with federal and state police. Protesters burnt vehicles and blockaded a highway in Ixmiquilpan.
