Luis Videgaray, the finance minister who stepped down on Wednesday, had championed the idea of inviting Mr. Trump to Mexico City over the objections of other ministers, according to several Mexican news media reports, though Mr. Peña Nieto insisted it was his own initiative.
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Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto, left, compliments newly-named Finance Secretary Jose Antonio Meade, before Meade was sworn-in during a ceremony at Los Pinos presidential residence in Mexico City, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016.
The resignation comes a week after the meeting between Mexico’s president Mr. Pena Nieto and Donald Trump, which engendered widespread dismay and anger among Mexicans and reportedly divided Nieto’s cabinet.
He had called Mexican migrants “criminals” and “rapists”. The New York businessman has repeatedly vowed to build a border wall to keep out illegal immigrants – which he said Mexico would pay for.
Meanwhile, Mexico was criticized for appearing to meddle in the US election process, and Pena Nieto was forced to repeatedly defend the decision to invite the candidates.
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Videgaray, a close adviser to President Enrique Peña Nieto and a leading proponent of the visit, will not occupy any government post after stepping down, they added.
The 48-year-old, who ran Pena Nieto’s election campaign, was widely seen as the president’s top aide, with a huge influence on a broad swath of policy.
But Pena Nieto was ridiculed for not confronting Trump more directly the visit about comments calling migrants from Mexico criminals, drug-runners and “rapists”, and the USA candidate’s vows to build a border wall and force Mexico to pay for it.
However, his chances could be bolstered by a revival on his watch of Mexico’s economy, which contracted in the second quarter for the first time in three years.
A long-time aide, Videgaray managed Pena Nieto’s presidential campaign in 2012.
A spokesperson for the ministry said Videgaray would not take on another public office.
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Videgaray was highly respected for his record of pushing major economic reform through Mexico’s divided Congress. Meade’s friendships with legislators on both sides of the aisle will also likely help him navigate the fractious politics of the country’s economics.
