Mexican president urges Mexican-American voters to reject Abbott over border spat

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Monday urged Mexican-Americans not to vote for Texas Governor Greg Abbott in response to Texas putting a barrier of orange buoys in the Rio Grande to stop migrants crossing into the United States.

Mexico’s incoming foreign minister, Alicia Barcena, said last week that the barrier violates a water treaty and may intrude on Mexican territory.

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“We don’t have to do much, just tell our compatriots not to vote for the governor of Texas or for lawmakers of the Republican Party who support these measures,” Lopez Obrador said in a press conference when asked about the Texan initiative.

Barcena said Mexico had sent a diplomatic letter to the US last month on the issue as she explained her government is dispatching a mission to inspect where the buoys are located.

Lopez Obrador, a leftist, has hit back against Republican moves to toughen immigration policy by encouraging voters of Mexican origin to reject the party at the polls.

In May, he accused Florida Governor Ron DeSantis of going after migrants, and called on Latinos in the United States not to support the American’s presidential ambitions.

Read more: Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin sends National Guard soldiers to Mexico border