MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - “America First is a fallacy,” Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told U.S. President Donald Trump in a letter on Thursday, responding to a White House announcement it was imposing a blanket 5% tariff on all goods from Mexico from June 10.

Lopez Obrador said he wanted to avoid confrontation with the United States, and that ideals such as justice and universal brotherhood were more important than borders.

The Mexican president also ordered his foreign minister to travel to Washington on Friday. </s> Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks to the media during a news conference, at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, May 21, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Romero

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - “America First is a fallacy,” Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told U.S. President Donald Trump in a letter on Thursday, responding to a White House announcement it was imposing a blanket 5% tariff on all goods from Mexico from June 10.

Lopez Obrador said he wanted to avoid confrontation with the United States, and that ideals such as justice and universal brotherhood were more important than borders.

The Mexican president also ordered his foreign minister to travel to Washington on Friday. </s> Lopez Obrador said he wanted to avoid confrontation with the United States, and that ideals such as justice and universal brotherhood were more important than borders.

The Mexican president also ordered his foreign minister to travel to Washington on Friday. </s> Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador hit back at President Trump in a public letter, decrying his plan to impose a 5 percent tariff on Mexican imports because of the administration’s border migrant crisis. “With all due respect, although you have the right to express it, ‘America First’ is a fallacy because until the end of times, even beyond national borders, justice and universal fraternity will prevail,” López Obrador wrote in a letter released late Thursday. The Mexican president said his foreign minister would be in Washington, D.C., on Friday to negotiate with U.S. officials. On Thursday, Trump tweeted that on June 10 the U.S. “will impose a 5% Tariff on all goods coming into our Country from Mexico, until such time as illegal migrants coming through Mexico, and into our Country, STOP.” “The Tariff will gradually increase until the Illegal Immigration problem is remedied,” the president added. White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney told reporters that the tariffs would be raised to 10 percent in July, 15 percent in August, 20 percent in September, and 25 percent in October. </s> President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Friday that he would defend the interests of Mexicans but wanted to avoid a clash with Washington, after the Trump administration announced it would slap punitive tariffs on its southern neighbor unless it did more to stop irregular migration.

“There is no need for confrontation,” the leftist president said at his daily morning news conference.

Mexico is heavily dependent on trade and this year has surged to become the No. 1 trading partner of the United States, eclipsing Canada and China. The Mexican peso slid nearly 3 percent overnight on the news, to almost 20 pesos to the dollar.

López Obrador said he has received broad support from the Mexican public after Trump announced late Thursday that he would impose a 5 percent tariff on all goods coming from Mexico unless it stopped the migration flow.

[Trump and Mexico’s new president got off to a good start]

“I want to insist that we will not fall into any provocation; we are going to act prudently,” said the president. “With respect to U.S. authorities, and President Donald Trump, we think that all these conflicts in the bilateral relationship must be confronted and resolved with dialogue.”

López Obrador dispatched his foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, to Washington on Friday for urgent talks.

The White House plans to launch the penalties on June 10 and increase them if Central American and other migrants continue to cross Mexico to the United States.

López Obrador has maintained a cordial relationship with Trump despite significant policy differences on immigration and other issues.

Mexico has responded to concerns about the growing surge of migrants at the U.S. border by stepping up deportations of undocumented immigrants and intensifying its scrutiny of people crossing its southern border.

“We haven’t just been sitting around with our arms crossed,” said López Obrador.

He said that Mexico would enforce its immigration laws but would not take actions that violate human rights. He noted that people were flowing out of Central America “not by choice, but necessity” because of violence and a lack of jobs.

López Obrador has sought to enlist the United States and other countries in supporting a “Marshall Plan” for Central America, aimed at improving infrastructure and job opportunities in a way that would discourage migration. But while Washington has offered loan guarantees, so far it has not committed substantial funding to the plan.

Trump says U.S. to impose 5 percent tariff on all Mexican imports beginning June 10

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Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news </s> Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador responded in a public letter he posted on Twitter Thursday in which he alluded to the U.S. as a nation of immigrants. "The Statue of Liberty is not an empty symbol," he wrote.

López Obrador added that he will send his foreign relations secretary to Washington on Friday. </s> As Trump announced he would raise tariffs on Mexican goods, the president of Mexico published an open letter to Trump.

On Friday—the same day that President Donald Trump announced plans to impose new tariffs on Mexican goods to try to strong-arm the Mexican government to "halt the illegal flow of migrants" to the United States—Mexico's president published an open letter to Trump.

"Remember that I do not lack bravery, that I am not a coward nor timid, but rather I act on my principles," writes President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known in his country as AMLO.

This is not the first time López Obrador has addressed Trump directly. In addition to the open letter he sent Trump when he first took office, AMLO published an entire book called Oye, Trump—"listen up, Trump"—in 2017. The book collects portions of López Obrador's speeches in which he spoke about the U.S. president, including one in which López Obrador declares that Trump and his advisers "speak of Mexicans the way Hitler spoke of the Jews" just before the Holocaust.

Compared to Oye, Trump, López Obrador's letter on Friday remained congenial but firm. Here are some key takeaways.

Contrary to Trump's rhetoric, under López Obrador, the Mexican government has continued a massive crackdown on immigration from Central America through the country. But López Obrador has shown a public willingness to frame the problem more as a refugee issue than an illegal immigration crisis.

"Human beings do not abandon their homes because they want to, but rather by necessity," AMLO writes. He also maintains that his government has complied with its responsibility to prevent migrants' passage through Mexico, but only to the degree that such methods are "possible without violating human rights."

Lessons From the Decrease in Mexican Migrants to the U.S.

In the last decade, the number of Mexicans migrating to the U.S. has plummeted. As the Mexican economy improved and the U.S. experienced a recession in the late 2000s, Mexican border crossings dropped by over a million per year, to just a few hundred thousand today.

AMLO points to this trend to propose a solution to the migration crisis. "Soon, Mexicans will not face the necessity of coming to the United States, and migration will be optional, not forced," he writes. He says that the diminishing number of Mexican migrants comes from Mexico's efforts to combat corruption and poverty and to improve the social sphere.

As Mexican migration has fallen, rates of Central American migration have risen rapidly. To solve the problem, AMLO proposes multi-national cooperation efforts to develop and aid Central American countries.

'Social Problems Can't Be Resolved With Tariffs or Coercive Methods'

Halfway through his letter, López Obrador addresses Trump directly and asserts that tariffs aren't the way to solve the migration issue. He decries efforts to keep migrants in a "ghetto," and to turn away people fleeing persecution. "The Statue of Liberty is not just an empty symbol," López Obrador writes.

In his letter, López Obrador shows an appreciation of U.S. history: He mentions the cooperation between Benito Juárez (Mexico's first indigenous president) and Abraham Lincoln, and he heaps praise on Franklin Delano Roosevelt, calling him "a titan of liberty."

But the Mexican president goes on to assert that Trump's "American First" policy is misguided. "With all due respect, although you have the right to express it, 'America First' is a fallacy because until the end of time, beyond national borders, justice and universal fraternity will prevail," he writes. </s> MEXICO CITY — Mexicans on Sunday appear likely to elect a left-wing populist president who has campaigned on standing up to President Donald Trump, potentially ushering in a more confrontational era of U.S.-Mexico relations on everything from immigration policy to trade.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a former mayor of Mexico City who styles himself as a champion for rural Mexico, has enjoyed a double-digit lead over the other top candidates from the country’s major parties for months.

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His vows to eradicate violence and official corruption — long unaddressed by outgoing Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto’s ruling PRI party — have played a major role in lifting him to the head of the pack. But his pledge to defend Mexicans from Trump, coupled with his nationalistic rhetoric, has also bolstered his standing with Mexican voters.

López Obrador traveled through the U.S. after Trump was elected to advocate for Mexican immigrants living in the states and even published a book called "Oye, Trump" ("Listen Up, Trump") that condemns Trump’s plans to build a border wall and “his attempts to persecute migrant workers.”

Mexico “will never be the piñata of any foreign government,” López Obrador, 64, told more than 90,000 supporters at a rally here to close out his campaign on Wednesday.

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The election of López Obrador — like Trump, known for his impulsive and nationalistic tendencies — could further strain U.S-Mexico relations. The candidate, nicknamed AMLO, says illegal migration to the U.S. should be addressed with economic development programs, not a border wall. And while he supports continued talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, he’s also been a critic of free trade in the past, arguing that Mexico needs to be more self-sufficient.

“AMLO won’t hold back the way Peña Nieto has,” said Mark Feierstein, former senior director for western hemisphere affairs at the National Security Council. “Peña Nieto has been very passive toward Trump and toward the United States.”

López Obrador, a two-time failed presidential candidate, is now running as the candidate for the left-wing National Regeneration Movement (Morena), a party he founded in 2014. He frames himself as a political outsider even though he has been a politician for decades. His popularity stems from widespread distrust of the ruling parties, including Peña Nieto’s PRI, which held power from 1929 to 2000 and regained the presidency in 2012. Less than 20 percent of Mexicans support Peña Nieto’s administration, according to Mexican consulting firm GEA-ISA.

López Obrador’s opponents — PRI’s José Antonio Meade and Ricardo Anaya, who’s running under an unlikely coalition of right-left parties — have also said they will demand respect from Trump. Being critical of Trump is seen as an easy way to unite Mexicans, who widely dislike the U.S. president. More than 80 percent of Mexicans have a negative opinion of Trump, according to a June poll by Mexican consulting firm Consulta Mitofsky.

Peña Nieto’s failure to stand up to Trump’s insults against Mexico and its people further hurt his popularity, particularly after he welcomed then-candidate Trump to Mexico in 2016. In 2017, Peña Nieto faced widespread criticism for sitting silently next to the American president on the sidelines of the G-20 meetings in Germany while Trump repeated that Mexico would pay for a border wall.

In April, Peña Nieto finally gave a defiant address, telling Trump to respect Mexico because challenges in the U.S.-Mexico relationship “never justify a threatening attitude or lack of respect between the countries.” The speech was widely praised, even by López Obrador, but many argued that it came too late.

Against that backdrop, López Obrador’s fiery rhetoric is resonating with voters.

López Obrador “answers to his domestic constituencies, especially as many feel that Peña Nieto has been like Trump’s doormat,” said Ana Quintana, senior analyst on Latin America and the Western Hemisphere at the Heritage Foundation.

Despite the tough talk, López Obrador says he wants to work with Trump. He’s proposed a large-scale project that will strengthen cooperation between North America and Central American countries. The effort, López Obrador has said, would lead to more jobs and higher salaries — two points that would drive down illegal migration and cross-border violence. He also wants to hammer out a NAFTA agreement that will lead to higher wages for Mexicans, something that Trump supports.

The change in administrations could spark a new era of cooperation, Marcos Fastlicht, one of López Obrador’s top advisers, told POLITICO.

“A door opens for opportunity with Andrés Manuel,” said Fastlicht, a Mexican businessman who has been friends with López Obrador for about 20 years. “He’s willing to speak with [Trump], willing to sit and negotiate, but part of this requires we wait and see.”

Roberta Jacobson, who retired in May from her post as U.S. ambassador to Mexico, said López Obrado told her it was his priority for Mexico to have a good relationship with the U.S. during her meetings with him.

“Whether he can do that, whether any Mexican president can do that, is unclear to me,” she said.

Jorge Castañeda, a former Mexican foreign minister who served during the presidency of conservative Vicente Fox, put it another way.

“López Obrador will try and be prudent, more tolerant,” said Castañeda, who is currently campaign coordinator for Anaya. “But Trump is Trump.” </s> Andrés Manuel López Obrador showed a sneak preview of his ruling style during a busy transition period, one filled with broken promises and big changes.

MEXICO CITY — Five months after winning in a landslide victory that set off a wave of euphoria in the country and engaging in a flurry of activity on par with that of a sitting head of state, Andrés Manuel López Obrador will finally be sworn into office Saturday as the 63rd president of Mexico. López Obrador, a headstrong leftist who traveled the length of the country painting himself as a father figure for Mexico with his message in favor of the disenfranchised during two previous failed presidential runs, wasted no time attempting to set Mexico on track with his vision even before taking the reins. “This is the busiest transition we’ve ever had,” said Hernán Gómez Bruera, a political analyst. “It’s totally unique and that has pros and cons.” If recent months are any indication of how he will govern, López Obrador can be expected to backpedal on key campaign promises made to his base — including vows to crack down on corruption and pull the military off the streets — in order to focus on other parts of an ambitious domestic agenda that the incoming president has described as a "transformation" on par with the Mexican Revolution and independence from Spain. On Monday, a poll by El Universal newspaper revealed that López Obrador’s approval had fallen by 9 points, from 65% to 56%, during the previous three months. Another survey by El Financiero, also published Monday, set his approval rating at 66%, compared to outgoing president Enrique Peña Nieto’s 26% approval. “There is a certain level of disenchantment,” said Carlos Luis Sánchez y Sánchez, an expert in public opinion at Mexico’s National Autonomous University. “He has spent the honeymoon that most presidents get during the first hundred days in office even before starting his mandate.”

That mandate will be unprecedented: The party that López Obrador founded, Morena, will hold a majority over both houses of Congress, as well as the majority of state-level legislatures. Some critics view this as a blank check for López Obrador to make controversial — and potentially divisive — decisions when confronting the challenges his administration will face, including a growing murder epidemic, widespread poverty, a shaky currency and fear among foreign investors, and a deepening immigration crisis that could set him on a collision course with Trump. Despite this, López Obrador has said he wants the people’s will to govern his decision-making. To make that happen, he has announced he will be holding “public consultations” throughout his six-year term. But based on the two referendums his team has carried out in recent months, the practice could erode his administration’s legitimacy. On Nov. 12, López Obrador traveled to Mérida, in Yucatán state, to meet with the governors of the states through which one of his signature projects, a 900-mile railway line connecting tourist destinations in southern Mexico, would pass. That day, the group announced that construction for the project would begin in December, despite concerns from academics and environmentalists. The plebiscite for the train was still almost two weeks away, making the vote something of a moot point. His first referendum, on whether to continue building the new Mexico City airport, was plagued with procedural errors and tiny participation (barely 1% of the electorate took part in the exercise, and people reported voting numerous times in different polling stations). Still, the president-elect slashed the project, deepening investors’ previous fears about López Obrador’s interactions with businesses and causing the peso to tumble. While he has sought to bring his signature projects to life at all costs, López Obrador has at the same time reversed his position on several campaign promises. Despite vowing to end graft as a pillar of his campaign, he announced this month that rather than prosecute politicians who committed acts of corruption before Dec. 1, he will issue a pardon for them. (He gave no details on what that would look like.)

And while he ran on the catchy motto of “hugs, not bullets” and vowed to remove Mexico’s military from the streets, López Obrador said this month that he will propose amending the constitution to allow for the creation of a national guard, a force of 50,000 military and federal police under the command of the army, tasked with pacifying the country. Experts say the national guard marks a continuation, and perhaps a deepening, of his predecessors’ failed military strategy against drug cartels. Perhaps, security analyst Alejandro Hope told BuzzFeed News, López Obrador is already feeling the pressure and looking for the quickest way out. “It unsettles him to know that the number of homicide victims will start piling up on December 1st,” said Hope. López Obrador, who proved himself intractable during his time as mayor of Mexico City and after his first failed presidential run, began to show an incipient flexibility during his last campaign, embracing a more inclusive discourse. Signs that the trait could become a permanent part of his personality emerged during the transition too. For months, López Obrador said he would forgo security because “the people would protect” him. After a lengthy campaign by his wife, Beatriz Gutiérrez, to convince him to accept a security detail, López Obrador at last gave in. This recent conciliatory streak could come in handy when dealing with one of his biggest challenges: Trump. While he once referred to Trump as “arrogant” and a “show off,” López Obrador has managed to forge a cordial, even friendly relationship with his US counterpart. In a July letter to Trump, López Obrador said they should seek a “common path” and urged him to conclude the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The US, Mexico, and Canada signed off on the new deal Friday — but it still needs to get approval from the US Congress.

Throughout the transition period, López Obrador’s team has already been forging ties with Trump’s team. After the migrant caravan arrived in Tijuana in early November, BuzzFeed News reported that the Trump administration was holding talks with the Mexican government on a proposal that would force people to wait in Mexico for their immigration cases to be processed. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has already met with incoming foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard twice — once on Oct. 19 and then again the following month. Trump has asked Mexico to stop the caravans; López Obrador has promised to offer jobs and visas to Central Americans who flee rampant poverty and widespread insecurity in their countries. “He won’t fight with Trump unless it’s absolutely necessary,” said Bruera. “If the tone changes, it will be Trump’s fault, not López Obrador’s.”
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador responds with a letter to the U.S. president stating he wants to avoid a confrontation, saying that ideals such as justice and universal brotherhood are more important than borders. He also ordered his foreign minister to travel to Washington on Friday.