Mexico’s president replaces ambassador, says Trump must be ‘taken seriously’

Special to WorldTribune.com

Donald Trump has succeeded in getting Mexico President Enrique Pena Nieto’s attention.

Mexico "has to take him (Donald Trump) seriously." /Getty Images
Donald Trump “has to be taken seriously,” a Mexican academic said.  /Getty Images

Spurred by Trump’s tough talk, which includes building a border wall and making Mexico pay for it, Nieto has dispatched a new ambassador and a crisis-communications expert to Washington to strengthen the “relations, promotion and image of our country” in the United States.

The last ambassador, Miguel Basanez Ebergeny, had predicted that Trump would apologize to Mexico. Ebergeny, ousted after seven months, did not even outlast Trump’s primaries campaign.

The new ambassador to the U.S. will be Carlos Manuel Sada, a career diplomat who runs the country’s consulate in Los Angeles.

Earlier this week, Trump proposed the blocking of remittances from Mexicans in the U.S. as part of his plan to force the Mexican government to pay for the wall.

He also blasted Ford’s plan to build an automobile factory in Mexico, calling it “an absolute disgrace.”

Rafael Fernández de Castro, who heads the international relations department at research university Autonomous Technological Instituto of Mexico, said that Trump “has to be taken seriously. He is affecting bilateral relations.”