Mexico President Enrique Pena Nieto Wednesday condemned U.S.
President Donald Trump's executive order to build a wall on the border
betwen the two countries, and reiterated that his country will not pay
for it.
"I regret and reject the decision of the U.S. to build the wall," Pena Nieto said in a nationally televised address.
Pena Nieto did not directly mention whether he would
still make a planned trip to Washington on Jan. 31, but said he would
await reports from the high-level team of Mexican officials currently
meeting with Trump administration officials in Washington.
"Based on the final report from the Mexican officials
who are in Washington right now ... I will make decisions about what to
do next," he said.
After talking tough about the wall, he held out an
olive branch, saying "Mexico re-affirms its friendship with the people
of the United States, and its willingness to reach agreements with its
government."
TRUMP DRAFT ORDER REPORTEDLY WILL HALT REFUGEE PROCESSING FOR SYRIANS
The decision to possibly rethink the visit comes amid
growing outrage in Mexico, and a sense among many that Pena Nieto has
been too weak in the face of Trump's tough policy stance.
The senior official, who was not authorized to
discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, told
The Associated Press the administration "is considering" scrapping Pena
Nieto's visit to the U.S. "That's what I can tell you."
It was not clear when a final decision may be made.
Trump's order came the same day Mexico's foreign
relations and economy secretaries arrived in Washington, and its timing
was seen by many in Mexico as a slap in the face.
Critics of Pena Nieto - whose approval ratings were
just 12 percent in a recent survey, the lowest for any Mexican president
in the polling era - have hammered him for his perceived weakness on
Trump. Opposition politicians urged him Wednesday to call off the trip.
"The position is very clear," said Ricardo Anaya
Cortes, president of the conservative opposition National Action Party.
"Either one cancels the meeting with Donald Trump, or one attends it to
say publicly and with absolute firmness that Mexico rejects the wall and
we will not pay a single cent for it."
Trump has also promised to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Analyst Jorge Zepeda Patterson argued that Pena Nieto
should keep the meeting as scheduled, saying Mexico should exhaust all
possibilities for negotiating to minimize damage. He said Pena Nieto
should try to reach an agreement that's enough to let Trump claim
victory and then move on to another foil.
"Trump is more interested in boasting of an immediate
success than an ambitious result. He is interested in appearances,"
Zepeda said.
The U.S. president has also promised to step up
deportations. He launched his campaign with remarks calling immigrants
crossing in illegally from Mexico criminals, drug dealers and "rapists."
Trump added that "some" were presumably good people, but the comments
nonetheless deeply offended many Mexicans.
Pena Nieto was roundly criticized after inviting
candidate Trump to Mexico City last August and disappointed many of his
countrymen by not publicly confronting Trump on the wall.
On Tuesday, ahead of their trip to Washington, the
economy and foreign relations secretaries suggested that Mexico could
leave NAFTA if negotiations with Washington are unsatisfactory - though
that would not be the first choice.
Already Mexico is feeling the effects of the new tone
from Washington. The Mexican peso has sharply devalued since Trump was
elected, and several high-profile business ventures have been canceled
amid threats to impose a border tax on goods made in Mexico and exported
to the United States.