US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a press conference with Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray (not pictured) in Mexico City, July 13, 2018. (Photo: AP)
US President Donald Trump wants to strengthen and improve ties with Mexico after "bumps in the road," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Mexico's next leader on Friday, following the leftist's landslide victory this month.
President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, in turn, handed Pompeo a letter addressed to Trump with his plans to reset the relationship, focusing on trade, immigration, development and security, said Marcelo Ebrard, an aide to the incoming president.
Ebrard called the encounter "frank, respectful, and cordial."
Pompeo said his visit was intended to signal the "deep importance" Trump gives to what has been an increasingly strained bilateral relationship.
Senior officials including Jared Kushner, Trump's adviser and son-in-law, were in the delegation led by Pompeo, which earlier met outgoing Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray.
Want good relations
Trump has irked Mexico with demands that it pays for a border wall and his comments that it does nothing to slow illegal immigration. He has also pushed to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to favor the US.
"We know there have been bumps in the road between our two countries, but President Trump is determined to make the relationship between our peoples better and stronger," Pompeo said at the start of the 50-minute meeting with Lopez Obrador, who will take office on December 1.
Lopez Obrador has said that he wants good relations with the US. Despite ideological differences with Trump, the two men share nationalist and populist leanings.
But the president-elect's plans to shake up Mexico's war on drug cartels, including by reducing security cooperation with the US, could put him on a collision course with Trump.
Border Security
Speaking to the media after the meeting with Lopez Obrador, Pompeo said he had "respectfully reinforced" the importance of border security.
"Americans must be able to see improvements that better protect our national sovereignty," he said, adding that it was important to have "strong, fair and reciprocal" trade ties.
Ebrard said the border wall was not mentioned in the talks, adding that he was "reasonably optimistic" that ties could improve between the two neighbors in the coming years.
