REUTERS/Carlos Jasso
- Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Saturday said that would not declare either of the US presidential candidates as the winner until pending legal issues are resolved, according to the Guardian.
- President Donald Trump’s campaign has filed a series of lawsuits in key states like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, along with demanding a recount in Wisconsin.
- Mexico is the top trading partner with the US, with roughly $600 billion in annual cross-border trade.
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“I can’t congratulate one candidate or the other,” López Obrador. “I want to wait until the electoral process is over.”
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Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Saturday said that would refrain from declaring either of the US presidential candidates as the winner until any legal issues are resolved, according to the Guardian.
On November 8, Joe Biden was declared president-elect by most major news outlets after the state of Pennsylvania was called for the former vice president, leaping him across 270 Electoral College votes, which is the threshold for victory.
Mexico is the top trading partner with the US, with roughly $600 billion in annual cross-border trade.
“With regard to the US election, we are going to wait until all the legal matters have been resolved,” López Obrador said. “I can’t congratulate one candidate or the other. I want to wait until the electoral process is over.”
President Donald Trump's campaign has filed a series of lawsuits in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, along with demanding a recount in Wisconsin, charging that there has been widespread voter fraud, but no major instances of irregularities have been reported in any state.
Mexican officials have stated that López Obrador's decision is rooted in not angering Trump while he was still president, according to the Guardian.
"Bolivia doesn't have a 3,000-km border with Mexico," an official said. "It's important to have a couple of months of peace and good neighborly relations."
While Trump has pressed for a full-scale border wall between the US-Mexico border for years, even proclaiming that Mexico would pay for its construction, Biden has emphatically stated that the wall construction will cease once he is in office.
While López Obrador is remaining neutral in declaring a winner, he publicly lauded Trump's hands-off approach to critiquing Mexico's economic policies.
"President Trump has been very respectful with us," he said. "And we are thankful that he has not meddled."