'We're not puppets': Mexican President says 'too early' to wish Joe Biden on election win

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, on November 11, doubled down on his stance on not wishing President-elect Joe Biden on his electoral victory saying it was “too early” and that his country was not a “colony”. Obrador, who has repeatedly accused Mexican opposition of meddling with elections, had previously asserted that he would wait until all “legal battles” were resolved. On November 7, Joe Biden had beaten Donald Trump in presidential elections after crossing the magic mark of 270 Electoral College votes, however, Trump is yet to concede to the results.

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‘Not a puppet’

Meanwhile, Lopez Obrador reasoned his decision saying that his government was refraining from any kind of “interventionism” in the American polls. Adding that they were "adhering to their policy of principles”, he said that they were not obliged to wish Biden because they were a “free and sovereign” nation.

"We can't make any kind of recognition of a government that is not yet legally and legitimately constituted. It's not up to us, that's interventionism. Also, we're not a colony. We're a free, independent, sovereign country. The Mexican government is not a puppet of any foreign government," he told a Press Conference. 

Read: Mexican President Refrains From Wishing Joe Biden, Says 'let All Legal Issues Be Resolved'

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Trump & Mexico

Donald Trump has always maintained a tough stance when it comes to his policies concerning Mexico. During his election campaign in 2016, he stirred controversy as he referred to illegal migrants coming into the United States from Mexico as "rapists" and "criminals". Trump also vowed to build a wall across the southern border to stop illegal migrants from the South, who try to sneak into his country via Mexico. 

Read: US Elections LIVE: Joe Biden Elected President, Trump Promises Unspecified Legal Action

Trump faced a lot of criticism from both within his country and the international community after he launched the 'zero tolerance" policy in 2018, that saw families who crossed into the United States illegally being separated. Most of the migrants affected by the deterrence policy are Mexicans. Under Trump's presidency, the United States re-negotiated the free trade agreement called NAFTA with Canada and Mexico, which the Republican leader had alleged was unfair to the American people because of certain provisions. 

But Obrador has maintained a healthy relationship with Trump's American despite all these actions by the latter's administration. Obrador even visited the United States as part of his first foreign trip since taking the office in 2018.