Mexican President faces politically risky US visit

Name: Mexican President faces politically risky US visit
Uploaded: 08 Jul 2020, 10:55:52 PM
Duration: 02:12
Channel: TIMESOFINDIA.COM

| Jul 08, 2020, 10:55:52 PM | AP

An expert on US Mexico relations says President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's upcoming visit to Washington DC is controversial with Mexicans, who largely disapprove of U.S. President Donald Trump. President Trump has consistently attacked Mexico in his rhetoric on border security and immigration and as a result, 89 percent of Mexicans do not have confidence in Trump's approach to world affairs, according to a Pew Research survey released in January of 2020. "The reality is that Mr. Trump has been very harsh on Mexico, on Mexicans," said Tony Payan, the director of the Center for the United States and Mexico at the Baker Institute of Public Policy. The visit between the two heads of state will focus on the recent implementation of the U.S. Mexico, Canada Trade Agreement, which took effect on July 1st. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will not attend the celebration in Washington, and cited cabinet meetings and visiting parliament as the reason why. Payan is surprised President López Obrador is pressing ahead with the trip to DC because he has rarely traveled abroad since taking office. Payan says many Mexicans are still scratching their head and wondering why the visit is even necessary. "Symbolically, I'm not sure what exactly Mr. Lopez Obrador plans to accomplish. To look good? I'm not sure he's going to look very good," Payan said. "Mr. Trump is very able, very good at spinning things in such a way that he's going to make it look like a score for him, not for Mexico. So we should expect that." Payan has also not seen any announcements or other signs the meeting could have material outcomes such as an agreement to take action on issues border security and drug trafficking which could benefit the binational relationship. "But both Pena Nieto and Lopez Obrador have exercised a great deal of self-control on the relationship. And that, I think, is responsible for not making it worse," Payan said. "Maybe... we're missing something on the visit. It's not about what can be accomplished, but about what can be prevented from happening." When President López Obrador returns to Mexico, Payan said Mexicans will expect a full explanation of what he was able to accomplish during the visit. "All the political baggage that this can bring about, all the political consequence of this has in the U.S. landscape, I don't think Mr. Lopez Obrador understands that. And I'm not sure if his advisers understand it," Payan said. "In my view, this should have been a visit postponed to the spring of 2021 when all is said and done politically in the United States and then Mexico knows where it stands. Another four years of Mr. Trump or a completely new administration under Mr. Biden." Payan added that President López Obrador's own approval rating in Mexico has dropped to just under 50 percent in recent polls, and was previously as high as 85 percent.