Mexican President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said he would not congratulate a winner of the U.S. presidential election until legal challenges are concluded, in an apparent bid to avoid friction with Washington during the transition.
In a news conference on Saturday, the Mexican President said “With regard to the U.S. election, we are going to wait until all the legal matters have been resolved.
“I can’t congratulate one candidate or the other. I want to wait until the electoral process is over.”
The Mexican president linked his caution to his own allegations of fraud in two presidential elections he contested, in 2006 and 2012, before winning on his third bid in 2018.
Mexican officials said the decision was borne of a desire to avoid provoking Donald Trump while he remained in the White House.
Mexico is the United States’ top trade partner, with over 600 billion dollars of annual two-way commerce, and the bilateral relationship with its northern neighbor is by far the most important for Mexico.
