Mexican leftist politician Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is calling on his country’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, to confront U.S. President Donald Trump at the United Nations. The presidential hopeful took to Twitter on Friday to put pressure on Peña Nieto, demanding that he “denounce Trump in the UN for violation of human rights.”
Obrador believes Trump’s executive actions on immigration, trade and the construction of the wall alongside the U.S.-Mexico border should be challenged by the intergovernmental organization.
“President Trump: your wall assaults us and leaves the Statue of Liberty as legend. We will go to international courts. Long live the fraternity,” he said on Thursday via Twitter.
Obrador, representing the democratic socialist MORENA party in Mexico’s 2018 presidential election, has also announced the creation of a “U.S. civic front against xenophobia.”
He is launching a tour of U.S. cities with large Mexican populations — like Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Chicago — on February 12. His goal is to convert Mexican consulates in the U.S. into safety hubs in defense of immigrants.
“Enough of being passive,” Obrador said in a statement last week. “We should put a national emergency plan in place to face the damage and reverse the protectionist policies of Donald Trump.”
Although Obrador and other leftist Mexican leaders are urging Peña Nieto to bring Trump to the United Nations, some signs point to a possible rapprochement.
On Friday morning, the White House announced that Trump and Peña Nieto had a “productive and constructive” phone call about trade deficits and combatting illegal drug and arm sales.
“Both presidents have instructed their teams to continue the dialogue to strengthen this important strategic and economic relationship in a constructive way,” the statement read, according to ABC News.
The phone call came a day after Peña Nieto canceled a scheduled meeting with Trump at the White House after he signed the executive order to “build a large physical barrier on the southern border.”
It remains unclear whether the Mexican government plans to take their U.S. counterparts to international court.
