Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. File photo.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that he will not go to the United States to participate in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum, to which his US counterpart Joe Biden had invited him, due to the presence of Dina Boluarte, coup president of Peru whom the Mexican government does not recognize.
“I am not going to San Francisco because we do not have relations with Peru, and it has to do with the Asia Pacific, and we do not want to participate in that, with all due respect,” AMLO said on Thursday, September 21.
In August, the Mexican president had announced that he had been invited to San Francisco to attend the APEC event during November 15-17. However, this Thursday he stated that he decided not to attend. However, he proposed that Joe Biden visit Mexico, or that he could meet the US president in Washington in November.
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“President Biden sent me an invitation, and I proposed two things: one that we would like, we would be very pleased if he visited us… he may come or I will go to discuss development issues, migration, drug trafficking, all the issues on the bilateral agenda, but I cannot go to San Francisco, and we can meet in Washington,” AMLO stated.
This is the second time that López Obrador has rejected an invitation from Biden. In June 2022, the Mexican president did not attend the ninth Summit of the Americas held in Los Angeles and hosted by the United States.
The Mexican president emphasized that his government has a good relationship with the US government and Biden. “He has been very kind, very attentive, and relations with the US government are very good,” AMLO said.
He added that if a meeting in November is not possible, then the two presidents will meet in Canada in January next year for the North American Leaders’ Summit.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
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