Mexico City, Apr 2 (EFE).- Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Tuesday that the United States should exercise greater control over arms sales, though he will not discuss the matter with his neighbor until the situation on the border calms down.
“There’s a lot of arms trafficking from the United States to Mexico, and in fact the gun shops on the US side of the border are selling more than ever, but this is not the time to start an argument,” the president told a morning press conference.
For that reason, the president and leader of the National Regeneration Movement (Morena) said that “it’s obvious there has to be greater control over gun sales on the US side.”
“We’re working on a proposal to make that happen but we don’t want to mention it right now because there’s the dispute about the border and we don’t want to bring that up,” the president said.
He was referring to US President Donald Trump’s threat to close the border with Mexico because he believes the Latin American country is doing nothing to stop the caravans of Central American migrants headed for the United States, and which have caused chaos at several points along the border.
“We have maintained good relations with President Donald Trump despite our differences. I consider it a good relationship and we’re determined to maintain a relationship of friendship, cooperation and mutual aid,” Lopez Obrador said.
The Mexican president then repeated his call for “dialogue, dialogue, dialogue and more dialogue.”
“We won’t fall for any provocation,” said Lopez Obrador, who seemed confident that “the majority of Mexicans don’t want confrontation” with the neighboring country.
Lopez Obrador said he will “keep working” on a development plan for Central America in order to stop these migrations of people fleeing their respective countries.
The Mexican president seeks the active participation of the United States government in this plan and is also in contact with authorities of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.
Lopez Obrador said he has invited the president-elect of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, with whom he met on March 12, on a tour around the southeastern Mexican state of Chiapas on the Guatemala border.
That tour, which could occur this April or May, will serve to show the Salvadoran leader how the government’s Sowing Life program is working, as it seeks to power up the economy of that area starting with tree plantations.
“The geography, climate and nature of Chiapas are similar to those of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, and it has the same flora and fauna. This program could be carried across all Central America,” he said.