Peà ±a Nieto closed his message by saying that Mexico offers and expects respect. "Mexico offers its friendship to the people of the United States and expresses its wish to arrive at agreements with its government, deals that will be in favor of Mexico and the Mexicans."
Recently, Trump signed executive orders to proceed with the construction of a wall on the US-Mexico border, and to increase enforcement of deportations.
"There is ... frustration with our government and ourselves that we have not been able to tell the story of this important relationship," a Mexican diplomat stated before the visit was canceled, referring to the many stereotypes of Mexicans in the US, "but there are also stereotypes of Americans in Mexico. It is in the interest of both governments to explain what this relationship is and what we can do together."
Peà ±a Nieto said his government is prepared to negotiate with the United States, provided that Mexico's national sovereignty is respected, with economic integration and respect for the rights of migrants and the money they send home as key negotiating points, in response to Trump's threat to "retain" portions of the remittances sent home by Mexicans in order to pay for the border wall.
"Neither confrontation nor submission. Dialogue is the solution," Peà ±a Nieto stated.
>>>>>
This epic confrontation is being echoed in a more humble battle about avocados and potatoes
As reported in The Produce News:
Despite the loud and colorful fanfare, a load of avocados grown in the state of Jalisco was headed for Texas the week of Jan. 16-21, marking the first time avocados from that region would have access to the U.S. market. While that truck was moving north on the Mexican highway, Potatoes USA and the U.S. National Potato Council issued a joint press release noting that "interim steps" had been taken by the United States and Mexico, creating "additional fresh potato access to Mexico" for U.S. producers.
The next day, the avocados were rerouted; the avocado celebration in Laredo, TX was canceled, and leaders of the two potato organizations noted that "any actions to open the Mexican market to U.S. fresh potatoes [beyond the 26 kilometer zone along the border which currently has access] are postponed indefinitely."
So which came first? The potatoes or the avocados? Do Mexicans have a right to reject US GMO potatoes? Of course, and then the retaliation, the tit for tat, ultimately doesn't work because Canada and European Nations want those avocados.
No one is sure precisely what happened next, as negotiators between the two nations have not clarified their positions. It is also highly unlikely that either government will get very specific or that will they state that obvious, that the exchanges of trade are obviously linked together.
So this author can only surmise and theorize that the GMO objections by Mexico led to 100 tons of avocados being sent back at the border. Off the record, several spokesmen for the U.S. fresh produce industry say the twin negotiations have been ongoing for quite some time.
In mid-2016, the US Department of Agriculture announced that all Mexican states would be able to ship avocados to the United States, depending on them following "protocols" (at that time, yet to be established). For more than ten years, American potato producers have been trying to increase their access to the Mexican market, but this has been indefinitely delayed.
(Maybe some biochemists, nutritionists, geneticists, and oncologists are far up in the Mexican government and have objected to all of the GMO agriculture in the US? This is plausible and certainly possible, but hard to prove, given the opaque nature of international communications and high levels of government in another nation)
Four US avocado representatives stated that the Jalisco avocados were packed and shipped over the weekend, with one having seen photos of the event. Another industry representative received an email from the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday, Jan. 17, announcing that the Laredo celebratory event had been "postponed indefinitely." At least that could clarify that the USDA might have been the source of the edict?
There will be many more such stories, so get used to this kind of news and don't buy the products!
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