MEXICO CITY – Mexico is preparing for the “Trump Emergency,” as the government of Enrique Peña Nieto has called the presumptive Republican presidential nomination of Donald Trump, which is seen as a threat by analysts and the business sector in the country.
“Here there is a Mexican government analysis triangle to know how to confront what we’ve been calling the Trump Emergency,” said the assistant secretary for Population, Migration and Migration Affairs within the Government Secretariat, Humberto Roque.
Roque is the only official so far to speak out about the withdrawal of all other Republican candidates from the GOP race, leaving Trump as the party’s likely White House candidate, a situation that has set off alarm bells in Mexico.
The official expressed concern over the “threat” of a possible Trump victory in the November election after the real estate magnate has called for the deportation from the United States of the more than 11 million undocumented foreigners and the construction of wall along the mutual border to block illegal immigration.
The Mexican government in April named experienced diplomat Carlos Sada as ambassador to Washington, Paulo Carreño as assistant secretary for North America and Carlos Perez Verdia, who had served in that post before Carreño, as coordinator of Peña Nieto’s advisors.
In addition, Mexico is seeking to strengthen its role in the United States, its main trading partner.
Proof of that is the visit made this week by Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu to California, where she mentioned the need to “reposition” Mexico’s image in its northern neighbor and noting the “valuable” contributions of Mexican migrants there.
The Mexican Business Council, or CMA, also expressed concern and claimed that Trump’s remarks harm the North American Free Trade Agreement.
“A candidate like Trump, who has been so virulent toward Mexico, against Mexican migrants and who has discredited NAFTA, remains a concern,” said CMN president Alejandro Ramirez.