Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray: Thank you, Madam Secretary. With your permission, Mr. President.

Many thanks to the members of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Chamber of Deputies for their invitation. I am here in compliance with Article 93 of the Mexican Constitution and the applicable provisions.

I have come to fulfill an obligation but I am also here because I believe that a constructive discussion between the branches of government, in this case, the executive branch and the Chamber of Deputies, is something that without a doubt strengthens foreign policy and the defense of our national interests.

I am grateful for this opportunity to have a dialogue between governmental branches.

It is clear that Mexico’s foreign policy faces unprecedented challenges. Today the world is faced with threats to the paradigms of international coexistence that have been in force for decades. It is undeniable that there are outbreaks of isolationist protectionism, outbreaks of nationalism, attempts to close themselves off from the world and furthermore, there are political actors with very diverse backgrounds in various places that are questioning the principle of global integration.

For decades, Mexico has ceaselessly encouraged openness to the world. We have opened ourselves up to the world with the conviction that we are a strong and sovereign nation, that we can establish relationships with the rest of the world that are in our interest, and this belief is not going to change. However, we must recognize that we are facing new circumstances, some of them unprecedented and others that are reminiscent of things that occurred in the world decades ago.

Foreign policy covers many areas. I will make some brief initial remarks in the time that I have been given and I hope that we are able to address other issues during the question and answer session.

Faced with the challenge posed by the new U.S. administration and by the affronts and policies that threaten our national interest, the Mexican government has decided on two pillars of action: the first is to diversify our relations around the world, recognizing that above all we are a Latin American nation; that we have a responsibility to Central America; that we have big opportunities in the Southern Cone; that we have opportunities and also moral obligations in the Caribbean. We are deepening our trade ties in different ways and we are also expanding our dialogue and political presence in the continent’s multilateral forums.

With Europe, we have a big opportunity to modernize our agreement that is already over 15 years old. We are in the process of forging closer ties with Europe and we are doing the same thing with Asia. With China, our main trading partner, we have a comprehensive strategic partnership. And within the Pacific Alliance, we are creating various opportunities to establish relations with countries that were part of the TPP, that is, Mexico is taking advantage of that situation to increase its presence in the world, to expand our commercial relations, to encourage direct investment in Mexico, but also to broaden the political dialogue.

Regarding the United States, we are facing this challenge with conviction. In the first place, we know that the United States is very important for Mexico, that goes without saying, millions of jobs, investments, and also remittances, depend on it. But we also have to recognize—and we Mexicans should be the first ones to be convinced of this—Mexico is also very important for the United States and at the end of the day, both nations have a mutual interest in having a constructive and respectful relationship and partnership.

Based on this belief, President Enrique Peña Nieto’s foreign policy towards the United States is based on clear principles, specific and explicit goals and lines that we will not cross.

With regard to the principles, the first one—as it should be—is that Mexico is a sovereign nation, and as a sovereign nation, only we Mexicans make decisions for Mexico and we determine our positions vis-a-vis the United States government.

We recognize all other nations, including the United States, as sovereign nations, and we demand reciprocity in the recognition of national sovereignty.

The second principle is respect for the rule of law, that the laws of Mexico and international treaties are respected and, of course, human rights, especially the rights of the Mexicans in the United Sates.

The third, and this is an important principle, is that we face the new stage of our relationship with the United States in a constructive manner, that we choose dialogue, that we choose to settle our differences by finding areas of agreement and by constructing new agreements that enable us to move forward together in the interest of our societies.

A fourth fundamental principle is the trilateral nature of the North American trade agreement. Any revision to our trade agreement must be made in a trilateral framework. Not only is this a discussion between Mexico and the United States, it is also a dialogue between Canada, Mexico and the United States.

A key fact that has important strategic implications is the principle of comprehensiveness. The relationship between Mexico and the United States is multidimensional. It is a relationship that includes issues that go beyond trade, investment and economics to include migration, security, cultural ties, educational ties and, of course, various types of cooperation.

Many of the American people and the government itself are very interested in reaching agreements with Mexico in different areas. Today, the negotiations must be comprehensive, that is, there won’t be a new agreement until all of the issues are agreed on. This is what the president has decided because it is in the national interest.

Based on these principles, there are 10 specific goals in different areas that the President announced on January 27. He also clearly explained the limits, the things the Mexican government will never allow. For example, Mexico will never accept unilateral provisions, the extraterritorial application of U.S. laws or provisions. 

Of course, any financial or any other type of cooperation in building a physical barrier between our nations is a limit, and of course another fundamental limit is not accepting the violation of the human rights of the Mexicans in the United States. 

I would like to thank the Chamber of Deputies and this commission again for their role in increasing the consulates’ budget specifically to assist and provide legal representation to our emigrants in the United States. 

Mr. President, detailed information broken down by consulate and by program and current as of the month of March, is available on the Foreign Ministry’s web page. The information has already been made public but in any case here is a copy of this information for the record. Thank you.

With these funds, we have been able to significantly increase our assistance to the Mexicans abroad. So far this year, our consulates have had 45,290 cases of assistance and protection, over half of which had to do with migration. Since we opened the legal defense centers on March 3, we have assisted 152,000 people. This means that we have already aided 2,400 people with their legal defense. In other words, thanks to the additional funds, we are providing lawyers in 2,400 cases to people who now, thanks to this program, now have legal representation. 

We have various programs, not just for Anti-Deportation Defense but also, for example, for the protection of family assets, including their financial assets. Regarding the state of the relationship, we have opened all channels of communication; today we have an active close communication. However, we are still in the process of constructing agreements. This is a process that will progress over the coming months and we will inform the Chamber of Deputies  and especially the Committee on Foreign Relations about it in a timely fashion.

I am going to end my opening remarks here, Mr. President, thank you very much.