Ambassador-in-Waiting Says Ties Between Mexico and US Governments at 'Critical' Point VOA News
go to original February 17, 2017

Geronimo Gutierrez Fernandez said Mexico must pursue a good relationship with Washington but that should not come “at all costs nor under just any conditions” (teleSUR)

Mexico's nominee to be its next ambassador to the United States said Thursday that the two countries' relationship is at a “critical” juncture with the new administration of President Donald Trump.

Ahead of high-level talks scheduled for next week in Mexico City, ambassador-in-waiting Geronimo Gutierrez Fernandez said Mexico must pursue a good relationship with Washington but that should not come “at all costs nor under just any conditions,” or in a way that is “to the detriment of national interest.”

“The relationship between Mexico and the United States and more specifically between their governments is at a critical point,” Gutierrez said. “In my judgment there is a possibility of a major derailment. In my judgment there is also, and it is within reach, the opportunity to construct a far more mature relationship.”

Gutierrez's remarks came in a private meeting with senators from the opposition Democratic Revolution Party as the Senate prepares to consider his nomination. A recording of the encounter was provided to The Associated Press by a Senate official who was not authorized to release the audio and agreed to so only if granted anonymity.

Relations between Mexico and the United States have been tense since the election and inauguration of Trump, who has vowed to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and to build a wall along the countries' shared border and force Mexico to pay for it. Mexico has also bristled at Trump's promises of more aggressive deportation policies and past remarks denigrating migrants who enter the United States illegally.

A planned recent visit to Washington by Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto was canceled after Mexico's government said it wouldn't abide Trump's demand that it pay for the wall.

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