Mexican officials call U.S. lawmaker who made disparaging remarks racist and ignorant
Download mp3 (1.1 MB)Mexican officials Friday pushed back on what they call racism and ignorance among some U.S. lawmakers.
During a congressional hearing this week, Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) pushed for military intervention against cartels in Mexico, saying: “Without the people of America, Mexico, figuratively speaking, would be eating cat food out of a can and living in a tent.”
Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard called Kennedy profoundly ignorant and a persona non grata in Mexico.
He also criticized the U.S. House of Representatives for passing a bill that would tighten limits on asylum and resume border wall construction. He said it’s part of a racist political strategy by the far right, and that politicians like Kennedy blame Mexico for supplying the opioid fentanyl to the U.S. in order to score political points.
"Racism is the only cement that holds the party together by what you see in this legislative initiative," he said. "Racism against Mexican people and all Spanish speakers."
Mexico is the United States top trading partner and most loyal ally, Ebrard said, and the two countries work closely together on issues including drug and arms trafficking and immigration.
