Take care of bad hombres or US might

Bangkok Post 3 Feb 2017

PeruvianJoaquinNunez,10,takesaselfiebetweenwaxreplicasofUSPresidentDonaldTrumpandMexicos
PresidentEnriquePenaNietoattheWaxMuseuminMexicoCity.

WASHINGTON:USPresidentDonaldTrumpwarnedinaphonecallwithhisMexicancounterpartthathewas
ready to send troops to stop bad hombres down there unless the Mexican military does more to control them,
accordingtoanexcerptofatranscriptoftheconversation.
TheexcerptofthecalldidnotdetailwhomexactlyMrTrumpconsideredbadhombresnordiditmakeclearthe
toneandcontextoftheremark,madeinaFridaymorningphonecallbetweentheleaders.Italsodidnotcontain
MexicanPresidentEnriquePenaNietosresponse.MexicodeniesthatMrTrumpsremarkswerethreatening.
Still,theexcerptoffersarareandstrikinglookathowthenewpresidentisconductingdiplomacybehindclosed
doors.MrTrumpsremarkssuggestheisusingthesametoughandblunttalkwithworldleadersthatheusedtorally
crowdsonthecampaigntrail.EduardoSanchez,spokesmanforMexicospresidentialoffice,deniedthetoneofthe
conversationwashostileorhumiliating,sayingitwasrespectful.
ItisabsolutelyfalsethatthepresidentoftheUnitedStatesthreatenedtosendtroopstoMexico,MrSanchez
saidinaninterviewwithRadioFormulaonWednesdaynight.
A White House spokesman did not respond to requests for comment. The Mexican Foreign Relations
Departmenthadearliersaid:Thenegativestatementsyourefertodidnotoccurduringsaidtelephonecall.Onthe
contrary,thetonewasconstructive.
Thephonecallbetweentheleaderswasintendedtopatchthingsupbetweenthenewpresidentandhisally.The
twohavehadaseriesofpublicspatsoverMrTrumpsdeterminationtohaveMexicopayfortheplannedborderwall,
somethingMexicosteadfastlyrefusestoagreeto.
Youhaveabunchofbadhombresdownthere,MrTrumptoldMrPenaNieto,accordingtotheexcerpt.You
arentdoingenoughtostopthem.Ithinkyourmilitaryisscared.Ourmilitaryisnt,soIjustmightsendthemdownto
takecareofit.
Apersonwithaccesstotheofficialtranscriptofthephonecallprovidedonlythatportionoftheconversation.
Thepersongaveittoareporteronconditionofanonymitybecausetheadministrationdidnotmakethedetailsofthe
callpublic.
TheMexicanwebsiteAristeguiNoticiasonTuesdaypublishedasimilaraccountofthephonecall,basedonthe
reporting of journalist Dolia Estevez. The report described Mr Trump as humiliating Mr Pena Nieto in a
confrontationalconversation.
Mexicosforeignrelationsdepartmentsaidthereportwasbasedonabsolutefalsehoods.
US citizens may recognise Mr Trumps signature bombast in the comments, but the remarks may carry more
weightinMexico.
Political analyst and former presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar noted Mr Pena Nieto had enjoyed an
apparentspikeinhislowapprovallevels,asMexicansralliedaroundhimforpubliclychallengingMrTrumpinthe
borderwalldispute.
ThelatestremarkscouldundercutthatifMrPenaNietoisviewedasweak,hesaid.
MrTrumphasusedthephrasebadhombresbefore.
InanOctoberpresidentialdebate,hevowedtoridtheUSofdruglordsandbadpeople.
Wehavesomebadhombreshere,andweregoingtogetthemout,hesaid.Thephrasericochetedonsocial
mediawithMrTrumpopponentssayinghewasdenigratingimmigrants.