Mexico Plays Down U.S. Friction After Foreign Policy U-Turn

(Bloomberg) -- Mexico played down any possible friction with the U.S. after reversing on a pledge not to intervene in affairs of other countries and offering asylum to Evo Morales, a towering figure for Latin America’s left-wing movements..The U.S. may not agree with Mexico’s decision, but it will likely respect it, foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard said at a press conference on Tuesday. President Donald Trump had applauded the exit of Morales, who led Bolivia for almost 14 years and quit on Sunday amid social unrest and political clashes triggered by election irregularities..“Relations with the U.S. are at their best moment in recent years,” Ebrard said when asked if the decision may bring tension with the Trump administration. “I don’t foresee any complaint on the position Mexico has taken regarding asylum. We haven’t received one and we don’t expect to receive one.”.Ebrard also strongly criticized the Organization of American States, a forum to discuss regional affairs, saying it stayed quiet after the military asked for Morales’s resignation, which Mexico has called a coup. Both the asylum offer and condemnation of the OAS mark a sharp shift for the country that’s pledged to remain neutral in situations like the Venezuelan humanitarian crisis..Given Mexico’s reluctance to condemn human rights abuses in Venezuela, bringing Evo Morales to Mexico after the constitutional irregularities “might create additional tensions with the United States,” said Carlos Bravo, a political scientist at Mexico City’s Center for Economic Research and Teaching. Bravo also said this controversy may lead to a further delay in the ratification of the country’s trade agreement, or USMCA..During the press conference, Ebrard said USMCA is a trade matter completely unrelated to Mexico’s offer of asylum to Morales, adding that bringing Morales to Mexico won’t impact its ratification. State Department officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Mexico’s decision..Read More: Trump’s Stance on Bolivia Slammed by Argentina’s Next President.Morales arrived on Tuesday in Mexico amid security scandals that have rocked the administration of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, including the capture and release of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s son, and the murder of nine Mormons, including six children, by drug traffickers..A Mexican aircraft picked up Morales in Bolivia after multiple requests were granted to fly over the air space of Latin American countries, including Brazil..OAS on Sunday published a report saying the Oct. 20 presidential election in Bolivia had been marred by serious irregularities, leading the armed forces, the country’s largest union and local church leaders to call for the resignation of the president even after Morales announced new elections..To contact the reporter on this story: Nacha Cattan in Mexico City at ncattan@bloomberg.net.To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Cancel at dcancel@bloomberg.net;Juan Pablo Spinetto at jspinetto@bloomberg.net.©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

Bloomberg

Company

Financial Products

Enterprise Products

Media

Customer Support

Communications

Industry Products

Media Services

Follow Us

Bloomberg Customers

BloombergQuint

BloombergQuint

Mexico Plays Down U.S. Friction After Foreign Policy U-Turn

Bloomberg Quint