Team Trump plays nice in first visit toMexico president-elect

MEXICO CITY: Top officials from US President Donald Trump´s administration met FridaywithMexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, with both sides upbeat on the potential for a turning point in the countries´ troubled relationship. Secretary of StateMike Pompeo led the high-level delegation to meet the leftist leader known as “AMLO,” who will take office on December 1 after winning a landslide election victory. Trump´s son-in-law and senior aide Jared Kushner, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were also along for the one-day trip, which included meetings with Mexico´s outgoing President Enrique Pena Nieto and Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray. Pompeo was all smiles as he met Lopez Obrador on the leftist ´s own turf—an agingMexico City house with scant security where his transition team has its offices. “We look forward to working with President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador,” Pompeo said later at a press conference. “It was a priority for me to begin building our relationship with him and his team.” Lopez Obrador´s pick for foreignminister, Marcelo Ebrard, also said the 40-minutemeeting had been positive. “It was a frank, respectful and cordial dialogue. It was a successful first conversation,” he told a separate press conference. “I believe we can be reasonably optimistic that Mexico will be able to find a basis for understanding and have a better relationship with the United States.” Therewas heavier-than-usual security outside the house. Swarms of journalists were kept at bay, along with a handful of anti- Trump protesters who shouted, “Racists! Cowards!” at the US delegation. US-Mexican relations have been strained since Trump won the 2016 presidential election after a campaign laced with anti- Mexican insults, attacks on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and vows tomakeMexico pay for awall on their common border. Since then, US tariffs onMexican steel and aluminum, Trump´s “zero-tolerance” policy on undocumented immigrants, and Pena Nieto´s two abrupt cancellations of visits toWashington have only added to the tension. Lopez Obrador, 64, pledged during the campaign to “put (Trump) in his place.” But both men say they had a positive phone call the day afterMexico´s July 1 election, and Lopez Obrador has invited Trump to his inauguration. Some commentators have drawn parallels between the Republican billionaire and theMexican leftist, despite their ideological differences: both are free trade skeptics who mobilized a disgruntled base with anti-establishment campaigns. Trump has even reportedly taken to calling Lopez Obrador “Juan Trump” in private. Lopez Obrador´s arrival gives both countries an opportunity to “take this moment when there´s a chance for change and revisit the relationship,” said Carin Zissis, a Mexico specialist at the Americas Society and Council of the Americas. However, she added, “we all know that the Trump administration is unpredictable... All it takes is an angry tweet at 6:00 in the morning, and everything appears to be undone.” Ebrard said Lopez Obrador had presented the US delegation with a comprehensive plan to improve relations.— AFP