Mexico will review all cooperation with the United States, the government said on Monday, in a sign of President Enrique Pena Nieto's increasing frustration with his counterpart Donald Trump's treatment of the country.
Mexico will review all cooperation with the United States, the government said on Monday, in a sign of President Enrique Pena Nieto's increasing frustration with his counterpart Donald Trump's treatment of the country.
In a brief statement, the Mexican government said Pena Nieto instructed ministries at a cabinet meeting on Sunday to evaluate "mechanisms of cooperation" with the U.S. government.
Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said on Twitter the evaluation would take place in coordination with his ministry and covered all current cooperation.
The statement did not give details on the reasons for the order, but an official familiar with the matter said it should be seen as a signal to Trump of the government's frustration with his attitude toward Mexico.
Pena Nieto chided the Trump administration in unusually forthright terms on Thursday after the U.S. president said he would send National Guard troops to beef up the southern border.
The plan took shape after Trump accused Mexico of failing to stop a "caravan" of Central American migrants organised by a human rights group travelling toward the U.S. border. However, the caravan quickly began dispersing when Mexican authorities moved in to register the migrants.
Trump, who launched his election campaign in 2015 by calling Mexicans who come to the United States rapists, has caused profound anger in Mexico with his repeated broadsides on trade, migration and security.
Mexico, the United States and Canada are at a crucial phase in talks to rework the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The Mexican government has long said the renegotiation should be couched within a review of the entire relationship.
Many Mexicans would like to see the government take a tougher line with the U.S. president. The Mexican public is far more united in its antipathy toward Trump than it is in support of its own leading politicians.
Mexico's next presidential election takes place on July 1 and the main candidates have all upbraided Trump for his digs against the country.
The candidate of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) is trailing third in most recent opinion polls.
Pena Nieto, who cannot stand for re-election, has one of the lowest approval ratings of any modern Mexican president, but he has tended to benefit from taking a stand against Trump.
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