President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto for 30 minutes at the G20 summit in Germany on July 7.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary John Kelly will be in Mexico until July 7 “to discuss building the U.S.-Mexico relationship while working together to combat transnational criminal organizations, enhance regional security and boost economic cooperation,” according to a DHS statement. In the meantime, the homicide rate in Mexico is the highest it’s been since the Mexican government started tracking drug-related statistics two decades ago.
Recent attempts at diplomacy between the U.S. and Mexico have been strained at best, and utter failures at worst. Tensions between the two countries that share a volatile border have risen at a time when drug-related violence in Mexico is at an all-time high, and Trump is causing controversy as a result of his aggressive plans to build a border wall and increase deportations. In September 2016, Trump met with Peña Nieto in Mexico City prior to the U.S. election—a visit that was unprecedented in nature, and further diminished Peña Nieto’s already dismal approval rating. In late January 2017, Peña Nieto canceled a planned meeting with Trump due to strong disagreements over Trump’s proposed border wall.
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