Biden's Visit to Mexico Likely to Focus on Trade, Not NSA Spying Richard Fausset - The Los Angeles Times
go to original September 20, 2013

Vice President Joe Biden speaks to a crowd this week at the Georgia Ports Authority in Garden City, Ga. He was to arrive in Mexico City on Thursday night to discuss bolstering cross-border trade. (Steve Bisson/Savannah Morning News)

Associated Press Update: U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden said during a visit to Mexico on Friday that he wants to deepen relations between the neighbouring countries beyond drugs, security and immigration.

MEXICO CITY — When Vice President Joe Biden meets with Mexican officials here Friday, he is expected to reinvigorate talk about the promising trade relationship between the United States and its southern neighbor and largely avoid discussing the troubles that continue to plague Mexico — as well as the recent allegations of U.S. spying on President Enrique Peña Nieto.

Leaks by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden indicate that the U.S. spied on Peña Nieto while he was a presidential candidate in 2012 and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. This week, the outraged Brazilians canceled a state visit to Washington by the Brazilian leader that was planned for next month.

Mexican officials have said that such spying would be a violation of international law and that the United States has promised an investigation. But at a news conference Wednesday, Mexican Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Sergio Alcocer said Mexico never considered changing its plan to welcome Biden, who on Friday will attend the first iteration of what is hoped to be an annual "High-Level Economic Dialogue" between Mexican and U.S. officials.

Read the rest at The Los Angeles Times

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