With the city still recovering from the passing of Mexican legend Juan Gabriel, another bombshell dropped on Tuesday night: Donald Trump would be arriving the next day to meet with Enrique Peña Nieto.
The Republican presidential candidate has perhaps even more critics in Mexico than in the United States, after months of disparaging comments towards Mexican immigrants. Mexicans have been outraged by Trump’s comments on undocumented immigrants, drug trafficking and his demand that Mexico pay for the border wall.
President Enrique Peña Nieto has openly criticized Trump, comparing him to Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, but on Aug. 16 changed his tone, going as far as inviting Trump to meet. Peña Nieto said in a television interview, “I can’t agree with some of the things he has said, but I will be absolutely respectful and will seek to work with whomever becomes the next president of the United States.”
One the eve of an important speech on his immigration stances, Trump touched down at Benito Juárez International Airport in Mexico City around 1:30 p.m. He was transported by helicopter to the Pinos Presidential residence in Chapultepec Park, where the meeting took place with Peña Nieto.
While the formal meeting was highly secretive, as soon as the announcement was made Tuesday night, protests were organized over social media. At 11 a.m. at the Angel of Independence on Avenida Reforma in Mexico City, a small group gathered to protest Trump’s visit under the hashtag #NoEresBienvenidoDonaldTrump (You are not welcome, Donald Trump).
In simple terms, today’s meeting is between 2 of the most despised and hated people by millions of Mexicans on both sides of the border.
— JORGE RAMOS (@jorgeramosnews) August 31, 2016
