Mexicans Accuse President of ‘Historic Error’ in Welcoming Donald Trump

President Enrique Peña Nieto recently set up a meeting with Donald Trump, a decision that outraged the vast majority of citizens of Mexico. As well known historian Enrique Krauze said, “It’s a historic error. You confront tyrants. You don’t appease them.” After Trump’s assertions of building a wall that Mexico will pay for and statements that Mexico isn’t sending their best when it comes to immigrants (likening most Mexican immigrants to thieves and rapists), it is easy to see why citizens are reacting with hostility. The meeting between Peña and Trump is made all the more dumbfounding after Peña has likened Trump to Hitler and Mussolini in the past.

This meeting was called to order “in the interest of democracy” and was used to “create a dialogue”. Even though many people view this meeting as a way for Peña to appease a tyrant, people such as Rafael Fernández de Castro (a professor at Syracuse University and former foreign policy adviser) have a different take on it. As Castro said, “At the end of the day, this is the Republican candidate. The U.S. electorate put him in this position, and Peña is respecting that.” It is important that Peña respect both presidential candidates because eventually one of them will hold the title as president. In order to keep Mexico’s relationship with the U.S. in tact, Peña must work with and remain cordial both of these candidates, even if doing so causes backlash from citizens. As the article wisely stated, “foreign policy cannot always be guided by public opinion, no matter the political consequences.”
The government ultimately declared the meeting to be a success.

I believe that the president of Mexico has been put in a very difficult position. Peña is faced with a U.S. candidate that likens Mexico’s citizens to thieves and rapists, a politician that nobody in Mexico respects, but feels the need to reach out to this candidate to secure a healthy relationship between Mexico and the U.S. By creating this meeting, Peña is risking the respect of his country’s citizens. It is must be incredibly tough for him to decide what is best for his country when he has his citizens looking down upon him (not only for this event but for other domestic problems) and a potentially dangerous president looming on the horizon. It’s not a decision I would wish on anyone.

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