The Mexican government disputed a pair of tweets by President Donald J. Trump where he the nation will end up paying for a border wall. The reignited tensions come at a time when the two countries are renegotiating the North America Free Trade Agreement.
On Sunday morning, President Trump tweeted:
That statement was soon followed by a second where the President called out Mexico and Canada for being difficult during the negotiation process.
In response to the president’s message, Mexico’s Foreign Relations Secretariat (SRE) has since issued a strongly-worded response.
“Our country, will not pay, under any circumstances, for a wall or physical barrier built on US territory along the Mexican border,” the SRE’s statement revealed. “This statement is not part of a Mexican negotiating strategy, but rather a principle of sovereignty and dignity.”
Mexico’s SRE claimed that they will continue to put their country first and take a serious approach to NAFTA while seeking benefits for the three partners. The SRE also claimed that NAFTA will not be negotiated through social media.
With respect to the raging cartel violence in Mexico, the SRE redoubled its stance that the violence will continue until the “root causes are addressed”. Mexico continues to point to the supply and demand of illegal substances as the primary driver. In their statement, Mexico claims that only through shared responsibility, teamwork, and mutual trust will a difference be made.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.
Brandon Darby is managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Stephen K. Bannon. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.