Virtual U.S. President-Elect Joe Biden has already made contact with Canada, France, and the United Kingdom. The Mexican Foreign Ministry assures that communication will only be established until the triumph is officially declared.
MEXICO CITY (Times Media Mexico) – Mexico’s ambassador to the United States, Martha Barcena, explained to U.S. interlocutors why the country decided to wait to congratulate the winner the presidential election in the American Union.
On instructions from Andrés Manuel López Obrador and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Marcelo Ebrard, the Mexican diplomat explained that such a decision is based on foreign policy principles, which are enshrined in the Mexican Constitution, particularly the principle of non-intervention.
The newspaper EL UNIVERSAL learned that the virtual president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden, contacted the Mexican embassy to arrange a phone call with President López Obrador.
Biden has already had talks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron, and U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The Mexican government’s decision was reported to Biden’s team through diplomatic channels.
Bárcena Coqui explained to her interlocutors that “Mexico considers that issuing opinions, comments or positions regarding internal processes may be considered as interventionist,” detailed the diplomat.
In an informative note, written in English and Spanish, and distributed by the Mexican embassy in Washington and by the ambassador herself on Twitter, it was stated that the position of the Mexican federal government underscores respect for the U.S. political system.
“To its institutions and to the Democratic and Republican parties, as well as to President Donald Trump and the ‘alleged’ President-elect Joseph Biden,” it said in Spanish.
The word “alleged” generated questions in the social networks, so the diplomat explained the difficulty of translating the word from English to Spanish. “It can be translated in several ways; presumed is one of them, virtual would be another, probable, eventual, future,” she clarified.
The phone call
The Mexican embassy commented to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) on President López Obrador and Biden’s proposed telephone contact. Such request was rejected, and it was warned that the communication would take place as soon as the elections in the United States come to an end.
The Mexican embassy was instructed by the Federal Executive to communicate to Biden’s team the considerations that prevent communication.
“The government of Mexico instructs this representation to communicate that due to these considerations, of historical and constitutional order, Mexico will wait for the institutional definition of the electoral process of the neighboring country to establish communication between our head of state and its elected president. The above, without demeriting the decisions that other countries take based on their laws and diplomatic traditions,” she specified.
Roberta Jacobson
For now, virtual U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has appointed Roberta Jacobson as part of his transition team.
Jacobson is a former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico. She left the country in May 2018, when she also decided to retire from her country’s diplomacy. Although she did not say so openly, it is believed that she did not go along with Donald Trump’s policy.
