Former Finance Minister Luis Videgaray’s resignation is reported to be the government’s way of indirectly admitting that the meeting between President Enrique Peña Nieto and Trump was a disaster.
Advertisement
Scandals aside, Videgaray was known as the “intellectual architect” of a series of major structural reforms Pena Nieto drove through Congress, Ugalde said.
Videgaray, long considered President Enrique Peña Nieto’s closest advisor, reportedly lobbied hard to invite Trump to meet with Peña Nieto.
Trump also inflamed sensibilities south of the border with his oft-repeated promise to build a border wall between the countries – and forcing Mexico pay for it. Trump has angered many Hispanics for his hard-line immigration stances and for describing undocumented immigrants as criminals and rapists.
But analysts said Trump’s visit could hurt Mexico’s relations with the next U.S. president, whether Trump or Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, who declined Pena Nieto’s invitation to visit Mexico.
Speaking at a town hall late Thursday where he fielded questions from young people, Pena Nieto sought to defend his decision to invite Trump to visit.
FILE – A demonstrator protests against the visit of U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the Angel of Independence monument in Mexico City, Mexico, Aug. 31, 2016.
Pena Nieto defended the get-together saying it was important to open a dialogue with someone who could be the next USA president instead of confronting Trump with “insults” that “would make me very popular here in Mexico”.
Polls show the main hopefuls for 2018 face a tough battle, with Osorio Chong leading prospective PRI contenders.
Meade must also “give priority to investment projects and social programmes that have been most effective in fighting poverty”, said Nieto.
However, “it is up to the government to tighten its belt, without affecting the people”, said Nieto, adding “there will be no new taxes nor increases to existing ones”.
Mexico’s resigning Secretary of Finance Luis Videgaray during a press conference at the Palacio Nacional in Mexico City on Wednesday.
Advertisement
Gustavo Flores-Macías, professor of government at Cornell University and former director of public affairs in Mexico’s Consumer Protection Agency, says that the replacement of Mexico’s finance minister is far from a campaign victory for Trump.
