Trump and López Obrador, during his appearance at the White House, on July 8, 2020. Kevin Lamarque (REUTERS)
Donald Trump has returned to the charge.
As an example that the attacks on Mexico would not end with his presidency, he attacked the Mexican government during a rally this Saturday.
The former president, who had come to Ohio in support of the Republican candidate for senator, JD Vance, again used his neighboring country as artillery against Joe Biden's immigration policies.
Trump recalled the tense meetings of 2019 in which he threatened Andrés Manuel López Obrador to impose tariffs on Mexican imports if he did not shield the border with the military and stop migration.
"I've never seen anyone bend over like that," he boasted.
The Mexican president has tried to divert the controversy this Monday by blaming the disqualifications on the electoral climate —the November legislative elections— but he has responded to the offense:
Mexico has once again become the center of attacks among Republican candidates ahead of the midterm elections in the United States in November, in which Congress and some governorships will be renewed.
Trump's strategy, which has been the same even before he took office in 2016, of rallying the masses of voters against irregular migration, as a case of national security above any other national issue, has been continued by some of his heirs.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who is seeking re-election in November, has been doing the same in recent weeks.
He implemented an unprecedented measure to blackmail Mexico in a way similar to the one used by Trump with the controversial case of tariffs.
He blocked the border bridges that connect some Mexican states with their territory through eternal checks on cargo trucks and caused chaos in one of the busiest borders and with the largest commercial volume in the world, with protests from carriers and some trailers set on fire.
After diplomatic pressure, the governor relented, although the threats to close the border again whenever he considers have not stopped.
Trump told a crowd of supporters his version of the meetings held by a group of representatives of the Mexican government, led by Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, in June 2019. “The highest representative of Mexico came to see me, just below the highest position , of the boss, who turns out to be the president, a very good guy, who I like a lot, he is a socialist, but I like him, he is one of the socialists that I like”, referring to López Obrador.
He recalled that Ebrard laughed when he ordered: "We need 28,000 soldiers on the border, free."
"So, he looked at me and said something like, 'Free? Why would we do that?'
I replied: We need something called
Stay in Mexico
,” Trump continued.
The program, which was signed by Mexico that year and which led to a wave of denunciations from civil organizations, consisted of allowing thousands of migrants to continue their asylum process in the United States on the other side of the border, a policy that collapsed the shelters in the border capitals of northern Mexico.
Despite this measure, toughened in 2020 with the controversial Title 42 —which allowed hot returns during the pandemic— and the militarization of the border on the Mexican side, migration continued to crowd with historical figures.
The former president continued with his anecdote, recalling that the representative of Mexico initially refused.
To which Trump replied: “I am the president of the United States, you cannot order me around.”
And that's when the threat began: "Now it's Friday, and on Monday I'm going to put 25% tariffs [on Mexican imports]."
The promise to impose taxes on Mexico on its imports was the most tense moment in the relationship between the two countries.
“Then he saw me and said: “It would be an honor to have 28,000 soldiers on the border.
It would be an honor to have the
Stay in Damn Mexico
, we want to have the
Stay in Mexico
” added Trump, chorused by his supporters.
And he finished: "I've never seen anyone bend like that."
Ebrard, present at those meetings with the US government, has responded on Twitter to direct criticism: “Regarding former President Trump's statements, I am aware of President López Obrador's patriotism at those critical moments.
Faced with the threat of tariffs, he did not accept the safe third country, which was the condition of the United States not to impose them”.
And he concluded: “What happened yesterday is a man campaigning, stirring up the anti-Mexicanism that characterizes him.
What he qualifies us for are the facts, not his sayings”.
The humiliation of Mexico and its rulers, a trademark of Trumpism, has been minimized this Monday by López Obrador.
"I like Trump, although he is a capitalist," the Mexican president began the response, referring to Trump's own words.
And he continued: “The truth is that we understood each other and it was good for both nations.
Now I am feeling that Mexico is being talked about more in the United States and it is important that we Mexicans know why.
This year is going to see elections in the United States and both the parties on one side and the other are wanting to put Mexico on their topics of debate, trying to get a crack, "explained López Obrador.
And he has issued another warning: “We are not going to allow them to treat us like a piñata.
They are going to have to treat us with respect, as we do.”
The president has also sent a message to the millions of Mexicans who live and vote in the United States and also to the rest of the Latin American community: “If Mexico is mistreated, do not vote for those parties and those candidates, whether they are from the Democratic or Republican parties. , that they do not forget their origins”.
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