Mexico slams US congressman's request to repeal visas of Mexican legislators

MEXICO CITY

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador expressed Wednesday his disapproval of US congressman Vicente Gonzalez’s demands to revoke the visas of Mexican lawmakers.

In a letter to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Gonzalez denounced Mexico's neutrality in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

"It's disgraceful enough that Mexico – our closest neighbor to the South - has chosen to not stand in unity with the international community of democracies. They have instead refused to send any aid to Ukraine or impose sanctions on Russia," he wrote in the letter that was published on Gonzalez's Twitter account.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced that Mexico would not join western allies in economic sanctions against Russia, ensuring that Russian investments would be respected in Mexico.

On March 4, the Mexican government refused the Ukrainian Embassy's petition for military-grade weaponry and technology, citing the "pacifist" nature of the current administration.

The letter cites members of Mexico's lower house who celebrated the Mexico-Russia Friendship Committee group March 23 in association with the Russian Embassy in Mexico.

"If these individuals refuse to condemn Russia, and instead choose to stand with tyranny, they should not be allowed the privilege of entering, traveling or investing in the United States of America," said Gonzalez.

Although the letter mentions Lopez Obrador’s party, MORENA, the committee comprises members of different political parties in Mexico, including Lopez Obrador's political opposition party members and a legislator who recently died.

Lopez Obrador denounced the congressman's petition at a news conference Wednesday, calling it "prehistoric, backward, and in bad taste."

"I do not consider it fair, and I do not consider it rational to want to suspend the visas of those who gathered to express their points of view concerning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as some legislators expressed. There is already a campaign to request that they not be allowed to enter the United States; that is a return to the Cold War, to the times of persecution, exclusion, and authoritarianism," he said.

The Russia-Ukraine war has drawn international outrage, with the EU, US, and Britain, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

At least 1,563 civilians have been killed in Ukraine and 2,213 injured, according to UN estimates, with the true figure feared to be far higher.

More than 4.27 million Ukrainians have fled to other countries, with millions more internally displaced, according to the UN refugee agency.