In his Nov. 16 morning press conference, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) repudiated the vote in favor of Ukraine’s resolution calling for Russian reparations to Ukraine because of its sole responsibility for the war, which had been cast by Mexico’s Ambassador to the UN Juan Ramón de la Fuente. He stated that the Constitution mandates that the Executive is responsible for foreign policy, and he, as President, maintains “that in this conflict our position is that of peace and neutrality,” not taking sides.
He first had been questioned about the Polish missile incident of the previous afternoon, and he opened his response, explaining: “I think that more tensions in the area of conflict must be avoided, and that it is indispensable that dialogue be opened to achieve peace. Do not delay, because there is no other way out. And, of course, the most rational and most human thing is to achieve peace, stopping the war.
“I am convinced that there is now a kind of collective willingness which had not existed. There is agreement now, unspoken, but which does exist inside many countries, including within governments, that a dialogue for peace must be sought.... I think that moment will not take long and what is needed is that it be attained quickly….
“There still are, as with everything, the most warlike, the most irrational, who want to continue this war, but there is no longer agreement. I am not going to say a consensus, because that has never existed on such a delicate issue, but there is no longer agreement. If the peoples of Europe were asked, I am sure that the majority of Europeans would be in favor of getting a dialogue for peace, including the governments.”
It was then that the President corrected Mexico’s vote on the resolution: “Mexico is going to continue to maintain its position in favor of peace, of a peaceful solution to that dispute, that conflict. That is Mexico’s position: neutrality. They told me yesterday that Mexico voted at the UN for Russia to pay for the damages done in Ukraine. That is a decision by the Mexican Embassy in the United States. I cannot be on top of everything… but the head of the Executive branch in Mexico, according to the Constitution, has responsibility for foreign policy. I maintain that in this conflict, our position is that of peace and neutrality.” (https://www.gob.mx/presidencia/videos/conferenciapresidente-miercoles-16-de-noviembre-de-2022?idiom=es)
