Politics
08:18, 03-Jul-2018
Mexico's new president offers migration cuts in Trump call
Updated
07:54, 06-Jul-2018
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US President Donald Trump and Mexican president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday they had had a "great" first phone call, with Mexico offering to reduce US-bound migration.
Lopez Obrador, who represents a clean break with Mexico's political establishment, won a sweeping election victory Sunday, raising questions about the future of Mexico's crucial relationship with its giant northern neighbor.
"I received a phone call from Donald Trump and we spoke for half an hour," Lopez Obrador wrote on Twitter, in one of his first messages as president-elect.
Presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gestures as he addresses supporters after polls closed in the presidential election, in Mexico City, Mexico, July 2, 2018. /VCG Photo
Presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gestures as he addresses supporters after polls closed in the presidential election, in Mexico City, Mexico, July 2, 2018. /VCG Photo
"I proposed exploring a universal deal (involving) development projects that would create jobs in Mexico and, by doing so, reduce migration and improve security," he added.
"The tone was respectful and our teams will be holding talks."
Trump also mentioned the phone call as he addressed reporters in the Oval Office.
US President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with Mark Rutte, Netherland's prime minister, not pictured, at the White House in Washington, DC, US, July 2, 2018. /VCG Photo
US President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with Mark Rutte, Netherland's prime minister, not pictured, at the White House in Washington, DC, US, July 2, 2018. /VCG Photo
"I think the relationship is going to be a very good one. We had a great talk," he said.
"I think he is going to try and help us with the border."
US-Mexican relations have been strained since Trump won election in 2016 after a campaign laced with anti-Mexican insults, attacks on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and promises to build a wall on the two countries' border and make Mexico pay for it.
That rhetoric fired up his supporters, but caused alarm in Mexico, which sends 80 percent of its exports to the United States and is deeply intertwined with its neighbor thanks to the 11.4 million Mexicans who live there.
US tariffs on Mexican steel and aluminum, Trump's "zero-tolerance" policy on undocumented immigrants, separation of migrant families and two abruptly canceled visits to Washington by current Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto have only added to the tension.
Source(s): AFP