MEXICO CITY: Top officials from US President Donald Trump’s administration met Friday with Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, with both sides upbeat on the potential for a turning point in the countries’ troubled relationship.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo led the high-level delegation to meet the leftist leader known as “AMLO,” who will take office on December 1 after winning a landslide election victory.
Trump’s son-in-law and senior aide Jared Kushner, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were also along for the one-day trip, which included meetings with Mexico’s outgoing President Enrique Pena Nieto and Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray.
Pompeo was all smiles as he met Lopez Obrador on the leftist’s own turf — an aging Mexico City house with scant security where his transition team has its offices.
“We look forward to working with President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador,” Pompeo said later at a press conference.
“It was a priority for me to begin building our relationship with him and his team.”
Lopez Obrador’s pick for foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, also said the 40-minute meeting had been positive.
“It was a frank, respectful and cordial dialogue. It was a successful first conversation,” he told a separate press conference.
“I believe we can be reasonably optimistic that Mexico will be able to find a basis for understanding and have a better relationship with the United States.”
There was heavier-than-usual security outside the house. Swarms of journalists were kept at bay, along with a handful of anti-Trump protesters who shouted, “Racists! Cowards!” at the US delegation.
US-Mexican relations have been strained since Trump won the 2016 presidential election after a campaign laced with anti-Mexican insults, attacks on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and vows to make Mexico pay for a wall on their common border.
Since then, US tariffs on Mexican steel and aluminum, Trump’s “zero-tolerance” policy on undocumented immigrants, and Pena Nieto’s two abrupt cancelations of visits to Washington have only added to the tension.
Lopez Obrador, 64, pledged during the campaign to “put (Trump) in his place.”
But both men say they had a positive phone call the day after Mexico’s July 1 election, and Lopez Obrador has invited Trump to his inauguration.
Some commentators have drawn parallels between the Republican billionaire and the Mexican leftist, despite their ideological differences: both are free trade skeptics who mobilized a disgruntled base with anti-establishment campaigns.
Trump has even reportedly taken to calling Lopez Obrador “Juan Trump” in private.
Lopez Obrador’s arrival gives both countries an opportunity to “take this moment when there’s a chance for change and revisit the relationship,” said Carin Zissis, a Mexico specialist at the Americas Society and Council of the Americas.
However, she added, “we all know that the Trump administration is unpredictable... All it takes is an angry tweet at 6:00 in the morning, and everything appears to be undone.”
Ebrard said Lopez Obrador had presented the US delegation with a comprehensive plan to improve relations.
The future foreign minister — who worked on Latino get-out-the-vote campaigns on behalf of Trump’s 2016 election rival Hillary Clinton — said the plan touches on what Lopez Obrador sees as the four key issues in the relationship: trade, economic development, migration and security.
The talks did not broach the touchy subject of Trump’s border wall, he said.
Migration is a particularly sore spot at the moment.
President Pena Nieto’s office said he had “expressed his concern over the policy of separating migrant families... (and) asked the Secretary of State to ensure that families separated at the border are quickly reunited.”
A statement by the State Department on the meeting said Pompeo and Pena Nieto had re-affirmed a commitment to disrupt transnational criminal organizations and to continue cooperation on “irregular migration.”
Nielsen meanwhile proposed means “to continue and deepen cooperation on confronting illegal migration and on building regional asylum capacity,” to stem refugee flows from Central America, according to a statement issued by the Department of Homeland Security.
Migration may be one area where Trump and Lopez Obrador can find common ground.
They both want higher Mexican wages, and “AMLO” has spoken of fostering economic development in Mexico and Central America so that “people only migrate if they want to, not because they have to.”
The two sides meanwhile sought to be positive on NAFTA.
Pena Nieto said they had agreed to continue working “constructively” to renegotiate the 1994 deal, while the State Department added both sides agreed on the need to modernize and rebalance the agreement.
The US delegation was informed that Lopez Obrador’s team would participate in any NAFTA talks during the transition period, Ebrard said.
Team Trump plays nice in first visit to Mexico president-elect
Team Trump plays nice in first visit to Mexico president-elect
- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo led the high-level delegation to meet the leftist leader who will take office on December 1 after winning a landslide election victory
- US-Mexican relations have been strained since Trump won the 2016 presidential election after a campaign laced with anti-Mexican insults, attacks on NAFTA and vows to make Mexico pay for a wall on their common border
Austria says stabbing attack suspect swore allegiance to Daesh
- Daesh calling for lone wolf attacks in America and Europe following a New Year attack in New Orleans, according to SITE Intelligence.
- Daesh has not claimed responsibility for the attack so far
VILLACH: The Syrian asylum-seeker suspected of carrying out a deadly stabbing rampage in the Austrian town of Villach had sworn allegiance to Daesh and was radicalized online, authorities said on Sunday.
A 14-year-old boy was killed in Saturday afternoon’s attack in the center of Villach and five other people were wounded, three of whom are in intensive care, police said.
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner told a press conference in Villach that the 23-year-old Syrian man, who was arrested seven minutes after the first call to the police, had been rapidly radicalized on the internet and that the Daesh flag had been found in his apartment.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Police said the man, who is being charged with murder and attempted murder, had recorded himself swearing an oath of allegiance to Daesh.
• More harm would have been done had it not been for another Syrian, a food delivery driver, who saw the attacker and drove into him with his vehicle to stop him, authorities said.
Karner, a conservative, told reporters there was sadness and sympathy for the victims, then added: “But in these moments there’s also understandably often anger and rage. Anger at an attacker who randomly stabbed innocent people here in this town.”
Police said the man, who is being charged with murder and attempted murder, had recorded himself swearing an oath of allegiance to Daesh.
More harm would have been done had it not been for another Syrian, a food delivery driver, who saw the attacker and drove into him with his vehicle to stop him, authorities said.
Daesh has not claimed responsibility for the attack so far. However, the media section of Daesh’s Afghan branch, Daesh-K, recently circulated a post by Daesh calling for lone wolf attacks in America and Europe following a New Year attack in New Orleans, according to SITE Intelligence.
The bloodshed in Villach followed the thwarting of a plot in August to carry out a suicide attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna by a teenager who had also sworn loyalty to Daesh.
Wife of detained Ugandan politician ‘worried’ over hunger strike
- Besigye was abducted in Kenya in November, and has been facing the death penalty on treason charges in a court martial
ADDIS ABABA: The wife of detained Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye said on Sunday she was “very worried” about his health, nearly a week after the ex-presidential candidate began a hunger strike.
Besigye, 68, is a leading opponent of the country’s President Yoweri Museveni — in power for nearly 40 years — whom he has unsuccessfully challenged in four elections.
On trial for “threatening national security,” Besigye went on hunger strike on Feb. 10 to protest his detention, with his lawyer describing him as “critically ill.”
“He’s not been eating, he’s only drinking water,” his wife, UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima, said on the sidelines of an African Union summit in Addis Ababa.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Kizza Besigye, 68, is a leading opponent of the country’s President Yoweri Museveni, whom he has unsuccessfully challenged in four elections.
• On trial for ‘threatening national security,’ Besigye went on hunger strike on Feb. 10 to protest his detention.
“He says it’s his only act of protest at the illegal detention that he’s being put through.”
When Besigye was last seen in public, during a court appearance on Friday, “he looked very frail and dehydrated,” she said.
She added that she was “very worried about his condition now.”
Besigye was abducted in Kenya in November, and has been facing the death penalty on treason charges in a court martial.
Museveni rejected last month’s Supreme Court ruling that civilians should not be tried in military courts.
Byanyima has previously labelled the trial a “sham.”
“I am in a fight for justice,” she said. “If this happens to him, that he continues to be held illegally, that some trumped-up process is used to convict him, this is not just about him, it’s about the fate of democracy and the rights of Ugandans,” she said.
The UN and several rights organizations have voiced their concern about the suppression of the political opposition in Uganda in the run-up to the 2026 presidential elections.
Rights group Amnesty International branded Besigye’s case a “travesty of justice.”
US-Russia talks should not rewrite Europe’s security: Finland
- The new US administration has warned its NATO allies that Washington will no longer be primarily focused on the continent’s security and may have to shift forces elsewhere to focus on China
MUNICH: Finnish President Alexander Stubb on Sunday said that talks between the US and Russia over the Ukraine war must not rewrite European security and allow Moscow to establish “spheres of interest.”
Washington blindsided Kyiv and its European backers this week by launching talks on ending Moscow’s three-year invasion in a call with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
The new US administration has also warned its NATO allies that Washington will no longer be primarily focused on the continent’s security and may have to shift forces elsewhere to focus on China.
The Kremlin has pushed for the negotiations to discuss not just Ukraine but also broader European security.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Washington blindsided Kyiv and its European backers this week by launching talks on ending Moscow’s three-year invasion in a call with Putin.
• The new US administration has warned its NATO allies that Washington will no longer be primarily focused on the continent’s security and may have to shift forces elsewhere to focus on China.
That has sparked fears among Washington’s allies that Putin could return to demands he floated prior to the 2022 invasion aimed at limiting NATO’s forces in eastern Europe and US involvement on the continent.
One issue talks “should not discuss is new European security arrangements,” Stubb, whose country shares a 1,300-kilometer border with Russia, told the Munich Security Conference.
“There’s no way we should open the door for this Russian fantasy of a new, indivisible security order, where it can do spheres of interest.”
The stance from the new US administration has sown further concerns in Europe as Trump demands NATO countries spend more on their own defense.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth this week warned that Washington will no longer be primarily focused on the continent’s security and may have to shift forces elsewhere to focus on China.
Stubb insisted that Ukraine’s push to join NATO and the EU should be “non-negotiable,” even after Washington appeared to rule out Kyiv joining the military alliance as part of a peace deal.
Stubb laid out a vision for how negotiations could work — saying that the West should hit Russia with tough sanctions ahead of talks to pile on the pressure.
He said European countries should help support any eventual ceasefire, with the US acting as a “backstop.”
Osaka meets Saudi Arabian culture ahead of the 2025 Expo
- Similar cultural showcases are scheduled for several cities across Japan in the coming weeks
TOKYO: To promote the country, its culture and heritage, as well as its pavilion at the Osaka Expo, which opens in April, Saudi Arabia is staging events around the country to give people a taste of life and culture in the Kingdom.
On Saturday and Sunday, Saudi Arabia put on a cultural experience showcasing its heritage in Osaka’s busy Namba district. The event used interactive experiences to help give the local people a taste of the nation’s rich traditions.
Visitors were able to experience Saudi Arabian hospitality and sample traditional food and drink.
The event also highlighted the country’s artistic heritage with displays of intricate handmade items that demonstrated the craftsmanship behind Saudi Arabia’s traditional arts.
A special Immersive VR Experience took guests virtually to the heart of the Arabian Peninsula, allowing them to explore cultural landmarks in a unique way.
In addition, guests were able to try on traditional Saudi attire, while live performances of regional music created a unique Arabian atmosphere.
One attendee described the event as “an unexpected but delightful experience,” adding that the culture felt “warm and welcoming.”
Similar cultural showcases are scheduled for several cities across Japan in the coming weeks. With the Osaka-Kansai Expo approaching, Saudi Arabia is building anticipation for its pavilion, where a similar diverse program of performances, exhibits and cultural showcases will be on display.
Over 40 people killed in Mali gold mine collapse
- The deceased, mostly women, had climbed down into open-pit areas left by industrial miners to look for scraps of gold when the earth collapsed
- Artisanal mining is a common activity across much of West Africa and has become more lucrative in recent years due to rising prices of metals
BAMAKO: Forty-three people, mostly women, were killed after an artisanal gold mine collapsed in western Mali on Saturday, the head of an industry union said.
The accident took place near the town of Kenieba in Mali’s gold-rich Kayes region, Taoule Camara, secretary general of the national union of gold counters and refineries (UCROM), told Reuters.
The women had climbed down into open-pit areas left by industrial miners to look for scraps of gold when the earth collapsed around them, he said.
A mines ministry spokesperson confirmed the accident had taken place between the towns of Kenieba and Dabia, but declined to give further details as ministry teams at the scene had not yet shared their report.
Artisanal mining is a common activity across much of West Africa and has become more lucrative in recent years due to growing demand for metals and rising prices.
Deadly accidents are frequent as the artisanal miners often use unregulated methods.
Thirteen artisanal miners, including women and three children, were killed in southwest Mali in late January, after a tunnel in which they were digging for gold flooded.
