Andrés Manuel López said his government won’t be provoked, after President Trump announced tariffs on all goods unless Mexico stopped illegal migration.
He potrayed Mr Trump’s slogan “ American First ” as false and said justice was more important than borders.
The president, Mr López Obrado, has ordered his foreign minister to travel to Washington, D.C. on Friday.
“I want to insist that we are not going to fall into any provocations that we are not going to act prudently with respect to the authorities of the United States [and] with respect to President Donald Trump,” he said.
In a letter to his US equivalent, Mr López Obrado said Mexico was doing its responsibility to avoid “ as far as possible and without violating human rights, and the passage [of migrants] through our country”.
President Andrés Manuel López said social problems could never be solved by fixing tariffs or coercive measures, ” he added.
“ With all due respect, although you have the sovereign right to express this, the slogan ‘United States [America] First’ is deceptive because, until the end of time, and even over national fronteirs, universal justice and fraternity will prevail.”
Minister Marcelo Ebard, the Foreign Minister of Mexico, later said on Twitter that he would lead a delegation to Washington, D.C. . He also said that the treatment of Mexico by the U.S. was not fair and doesn’t make economic sense to anyone.