June 7, 2016 — Washington, D.C.
Mexican Foreign Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu, addressing the AJC Global Forum, spoke emphatically about U.S.-Mexican relations. “The Mexican-U.S. alliance is unwavering. It has deep, robust roots, and is mature enough to endure any political juncture,” said Massieu.
Referring to comments made during the current U.S. political campaign, Massieu said “we cannot dismiss this challenge to our shared future and common values lightly. Our problem is not one of closed borders but one of narrow minds.”
The Foreign Secretary, who flew to Washington especially to address the AJC Global Forum, emphasized that “the United States benefits, greatly, from economic relations with Mexico, and the American people benefit, immensely, from the presence of Mexicans in this country.”
The Mexican and U.S. economies are increasingly intertwined, with both countries jointly producing a growing number of products. “We do not steal jobs from U.S. companies,” Massieu declared. “On the contrary, over six million U.S. jobs depend on the commercial relationship with Mexico.”
And, the 35.5 million people in the U.S. of Mexican origin “generate 8 percent of the U.S. GDP, while immigrants of Mexican background own 570,000 companies, one of every 25 in the U.S.,” she added. “The Mexico-U.S. relationship is strong because it is the product of its people.”
Among the more than 2,700 people from across the U.S. and more than 70 countries attending the AJC Global Forum were diplomats from all Mexican consulates in the U.S. and dozens of Mexican-American leaders, as well as 30 Mexican Jewish leaders. “Only an organization of the caliber of AJC could have achieved this turnout,” said Massieu.
Massieu commended AJC for its “courageous defense of immigrants in the United States” and for “uncompromisingly” raising its “voice in favor of human rights and human decency,” and praised the Mexican Jewish community for its imprint on so many spheres of life in Mexico.
The foreign secretary said Mexico is ready to step up its collaboration with AJC, which has grown dramatically since AJC’s Belfer Institute for Latino and Latin American Relations was launched more than ten years ago.
“The Mexican and the Jewish people have forged an enduring friendship,” she said.
