MEXICO U.N. ENVOY FIRED IN U.S. "BACKYARD" ROW
Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2003 6:47 pm
Mexico U.N. Envoy Fired in U.S. 'Backyard' Row
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico said on Monday it would remove its U.N. ambassador at the end of the year for saying the United States treated Mexico like its own backyard and likening the countries' relationship to a weekend fling.
Foreign Minister Ernesto Derbez said the envoy, Adolfo Aguilar, would leave when Mexico finishes its stint as a nonpermanent member of the U.N. Security Council.
"It was decided that as of January 1, once the period on the Security Council is concluded, Ambassador Aguilar will be removed," Derbez told reporters, saying the decision came after discussing Aguilar's remarks with the ambassador and with President Vicente Fox.
Aguilar prompted criticism north and south of the border by saying last week the United States had never been interested in developing an equal relationship with Mexico.
"The United States has never seen Mexico as its partner, as it sees its European partners," he told Mexican university students. "They see us as a backyard."
Aguilar said the United States saw its relationship with Mexico as important at some times and unimportant at other times, depending on the circumstances, and compared the two countries to "weekend lovers."
Fox rejected Aguilar's comments and Secretary of State Colin Powell called them "outrageous."
Some Mexican newspaper columnists have supported Aguilar's remarks.
Mexico sends about 90 percent of its exports to the United States and is economically reliant on its northern neighbor.
But it did not support U.S. efforts earlier this year to win Security Council backing for the war in Iraq.
Important issues for Mexicans, like improving the status of migrant workers in the United States, remain on the back burner as Washington wages its war on terrorism.
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico said on Monday it would remove its U.N. ambassador at the end of the year for saying the United States treated Mexico like its own backyard and likening the countries' relationship to a weekend fling.
Foreign Minister Ernesto Derbez said the envoy, Adolfo Aguilar, would leave when Mexico finishes its stint as a nonpermanent member of the U.N. Security Council.
"It was decided that as of January 1, once the period on the Security Council is concluded, Ambassador Aguilar will be removed," Derbez told reporters, saying the decision came after discussing Aguilar's remarks with the ambassador and with President Vicente Fox.
Aguilar prompted criticism north and south of the border by saying last week the United States had never been interested in developing an equal relationship with Mexico.
"The United States has never seen Mexico as its partner, as it sees its European partners," he told Mexican university students. "They see us as a backyard."
Aguilar said the United States saw its relationship with Mexico as important at some times and unimportant at other times, depending on the circumstances, and compared the two countries to "weekend lovers."
Fox rejected Aguilar's comments and Secretary of State Colin Powell called them "outrageous."
Some Mexican newspaper columnists have supported Aguilar's remarks.
Mexico sends about 90 percent of its exports to the United States and is economically reliant on its northern neighbor.
But it did not support U.S. efforts earlier this year to win Security Council backing for the war in Iraq.
Important issues for Mexicans, like improving the status of migrant workers in the United States, remain on the back burner as Washington wages its war on terrorism.