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U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump held a short private meeting Wednesday with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in Mexico, a country he has vilified since announcing a run for the Oval Office.
During the meeting, Pena Nieto reaffirmed the importance of North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, for the Mexican economy and that it has been beneficial for both countries, stressing that the two nations must work to increase border security.
"We have to secure but also to make more efficient the movement across the borders," he said at a news conference after the meeting.
Trump has drawn criticism from his own party and Democrats for a rhetoric he has used to defame immigrants, including from Latin America and Mexico. The real estate developer has said he would abolish the NAFTA deal, build a border wall to help keep Mexicans from illegally entering the U.S. and would force Mexico to pay for the project.
When he announced his candidacy, Trump drew the ire of the entire Mexican state when he said Mexico is sending its criminals north to the U.S.
"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're not sending you. They're not sending you. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people," he said.
Pena Nieto on Wednesday demanded respect for Mexican immigrants in the U.S.
"Mexican nationals in the United States are honest people, working people, that deserves everybody's respect," he said.
As for the drug problem, Pena Nieto said the U.S. must assume responsibility for its part in the drug trafficking problem.
"The arm and the money of the drug come goes from north to south," he said.
Following their sit-down, Trump told journalists he now considers the Mexican leader "a friend".
He said the border wall was discussed but who would pay for it was not part of the talk.
Trump also acknowledged Mexican Americans are "spectacular, hard-working people."
Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton blasted Trump's visit.
"You don't build a coalition by insulting our friends or acting like a loose cannon," she said in an address to the Republican-leaning American Legion. "You do it by putting in the slow hard work of building relationships," she said shortly before Trump landed in Mexico.
"It certainly takes more than trying to make up for a year of insults and insinuations by dropping in on our neighbors for a few hours and then flying home again. That is not how it works," she told the group of retired veterans. -
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