“Mexico is safer than the United States and there is no problem traveling safely to Mexico,” said Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador at a press conference.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday that his country was “safer” than the United States, despite the recent kidnapping of four American nationals, two of whom died in captivity.
The leftist leader made the comparison when asked about Washington’s warnings to Americans to avoid travel or take extra precautions in 30 of Mexico’s 32 states.
“Why this paranoia?” the president said, taking the opportunity to once again reject the view of members of the US Congress that the US military should step in to fight drug traffickers wherever they are.
“This is a campaign against Mexico led by conservative politicians in the United States,” criticized Lopez Obrador, who last week called these parliamentarians “shabby” and accused them of maneuvering “politicians” in the run-up to the 2024 US presidential elections.
“We are partners”
The Mexican head of state received on Monday members of the United States Congress and the United States ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, to explain his efforts against the trafficking of fentanyl, a synthetic drug 50 times more powerful than the heroin, and to address trade disputes between the two countries.
The group of eight parliamentarians, led by Jason Smith, Republican congressman from Missouri, included five other representatives of this party and two Democrats, the presidency said in a press release.
“We are partners (…) forever. There are sometimes problems, disagreements, but we know that we are united”, underlined Ken Salazar in front of the press at the end of the meeting.
During the meeting, the Head of State explained the “work carried out by Mexico, especially with regard to fentanyl”, reported Roberto Velasco, representative of the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
