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MEXICO CITY: On Wednesday (November 11), Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador insisted on being one of the few leaders of major countries to congratulate Joe Biden on his victory in the presidential election, saying it was too much soon and that his country was “not a colony.”
López Obrador, who accused his rivals of electoral fraud in their presidential defeats in 2006 and 2012, says he has no side in the U.S. elections and will wait until the legal challenges launched by the Trump administration on voting have been met.
“We cannot make any kind of recognition to a government that is not yet legally and legitimately constituted,” he said at a press conference. “It does not depend on us, that is interventionism.”
López Obrador showed no such hesitation in congratulating the winners of the divisive 2019 presidential elections in Bolivia, which were later overturned for irregularities. Critics charge that his position on Biden does not seem neutral.
US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to harm Mexico economically if it does not curb illegal immigration, has refused to accept defeat and has initiated lawsuits to press for allegations of voter fraud. State officials have said they are not aware of any significant wrongdoing.
Biden, a Democrat, cleared the threshold of 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency on Saturday.
While in opposition, López Obrador compared Trump to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler and vowed to put him “in his place” if elected. Since taking office nearly two years ago, he has worked hard to avoid conflict with the US president.
His attitude on the vote has upset some Democrats, but López Obrador insisted there would be no repercussions for Mexico.
“Because we adhere to our principled policy,” he said. “Furthermore, we are not a colony. We are a free, independent and sovereign country. The Mexican government is not a puppet of any foreign government.”
The left-leaning López Obrador is part of a shrinking group of world leaders who have yet to congratulate Biden, along with Brazil’s right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping.
