The Mexican leader made no mention of reports that Videgaray played a crucial role in setting up Trump’s August 31 meeting with Pena Nieto, which drew widespread scorn because of the Republican candidate’s anti-immigrant rhetoric.
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Videgaray, a close confidant of President Enrique Pena Nieto, stepped down earlier Wednesday amid fallout from the NY billionaire’s visit which he helped arrange.
Meade, who was also once energy minister, is among those hopefuls. The visit has been widely seen as a humiliation for the country in view of Trump’s opinions about Mexican immigration to the US.
Meade, the new finance minister, is a friend of Videgaray’s and had served in the administration as foreign minister before moving to the social development ministry previous year.
Trump said at a joint news conference after his meeting with Pena Nieto that his demand that Mexico pay for a wall along the USA border had not been discussed.
The government had hoped to impress upon Trump the need to moderate his tone, reconsider his more divisive campaign proposals and better understand Mexico’s concerns during the 70-minute talk he held with Pena Nieto in Mexico City. Pena Nieto was scheduled to address the media at 11 a.m. local time (12 pm EST) at the presidential residence.
Videgaray “was the architect” of Trump’s visit, because he was the adviser that Pena Nieto had “the most reliance on, and was closest to”, said columnist and political analyst Raymundo Riva Palacio.
As Finance Minister, Meade’s first task will be to present the 2017 budget to Congress for approval in coming days.
But within hours of leaving Mexico, Trump was telling a cheering crowd of supporters in Phoenix, Ariz., that Mexico would pay for the border wall “100 per cent”, prompting fresh ridicule of Pena Nieto at home.
The same contractor had sold a mansion to Pena Nieto’s wife, the former soap opera star Angelica Rivera, raising questions about conflicts of interest.
The fiery reaction to Trump’s visit increased pressure on Pena Nieto to make changes.
Luis Videgaray has been a close confidant of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and was a possible contender for the ruling party’s presidential nomination in 2018.
Among possible PRI candidates for the presidency, Chong tops opinion polls. “Some say he did well, others say the debt has increased”.
“We’ve been badly hurt and if you look at the aftermath today, the people who arranged the trip in Mexico have been forced out of government”, Trump said at a presidential forum in front of veterans and active service members on Wednesday night.
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The economy has consistently underperformed expectations during Videgaray’s tenure.
