Mexico‘s foreign relations secretary called U.S. President Donald Trump‘s plan to build a border wall an “unfriendly, hostile” act, adding Tuesday that it is a “bad idea” that will not accomplish anything.
And while Trump has repeatedly asserted that he will get the U.S.’s neighbour to pay for building the wall, Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray repeated in a meeting with legislators that Mexico’s won’t pay a cent for it.
READ MORE: Donald Trump backs off on border wall funding to avoid government shutdown
Trump had requested that Congress provide U.S. funds to begin the wall, but he signalled Monday that he would not insist on it, saying he might be willing to wait until September for the funding.
WATCH: Trump reaffirms commitment to build border wall during NRA speech
Videgaray also said Mexico’s government would consider reducing security co-operation with the United States if talks on immigration and trade issues don’t go well.
“If the negotiation on other themes – immigration, the border, trade – isn’t satisfactory to Mexico’s interests, we will have to review our existing co-operation,” Videgaray said. “This would be especially in the security areas … and that involves the national immigration agency, the federal police and of course, the armed forces.”
READ MORE: Donald Trump presses Democrats on border wall as 100 day mark looms
Mexico at present co-operates with the United States in fighting drug cartels and other forms of transnational crime.
Videgaray also said the Mexican government was considering charging a fee for Americans entering the country, though he didn’t fully describe the idea or say to whom it might apply.
Asked by a legislator whether Mexico had considered imposing visa requirements for Americans, he answered: “We could explore – not necessarily a visa, that could impede a lot of people from coming to Mexico – but we could perhaps (have) a fee associated with entry. This is something that I’m sure will be part of our discussion, and I believe we can find points of agreement.”
Comments