Why is President Lopez-Obrador sticking his nose in US elections?
What do you know? We learned that the president of Mexico wants his "compatriots" to oppose Governor Greg Abbott. Here is the story:
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Monday urged Mexican-Americans not to vote for Texas Governor Greg Abbott in response to Texas putting a barrier of orange buoys in the Rio Grande to stop migrants crossing into the United States.
Mexico's incoming foreign minister, Alicia Barcena, said last week that the barrier violates a water treaty and may intrude on Mexican territory.
"We don't have to do much, just tell our compatriots not to vote for the governor of Texas or for lawmakers of the Republican Party who support these measures," Lopez Obrador said in a press conference when asked about the Texan initiative.
Barcena said Mexico had sent a diplomatic letter to the U.S. last month on the issue as she explained her government is dispatching a mission to inspect where the buoys are located.
Lopez Obrador, a leftist, has hit back against Republican moves to toughen immigration policy by encouraging voters of Mexican origin to reject the party at the polls.
In May, he accused Florida Governor Ron DeSantis of going after migrants, and called on Latinos in the United States not to support the American's presidential ambitions.
Wow. We are in new territory, aren't we? We have never seen anything like this before because Mexico has had a tradition of staying away from other countries' elections. My longtime Mexican friend told me months ago that Mexican presidents stay away from commenting on the other countries because they don't want anyone talking about their elections. It's the idea that we won't say anything, and you won't say anything about us.
Enter AMLO. He injected himself into Peru's internal matters, publicly challenging an impeachment of his leftist friend President Pedro Castillo. Now he is calling on his "compatriots" here to vote one way or another.
It's an outrage, but it's happening because no one fears President Biden. No one is afraid of getting a phone call threatening direct action. I guess President Biden has other things to get involved with. Or maybe he does not mind because AMLO is calling on Mexicans to vote Democrat.
Remember when Hugo Chávez mocked President George W. Bush at the U.N. in 2006? Who defended President Bush? Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), who said this:
You don't come into my country; you don't come into my congressional district and you don't condemn my president.
Well, those were the days, my friend. What Democrat will defend the country this time around? It might be a good question for Democrats on the border facing the challenges of President Biden's border disaster.
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Image: Eneas de Troya.