Mexico seeks to renew ties with North Korea, also backs Cuban government

Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard expressed his country’s desire to reopen relations with North Korea on Saturday after his government also this week voiced support for the Cuban government amid large-scale protests in the Caribbean island nation.

Mexico’s support for Cuba’s government, as well as its desire to reopen ties with North Korea, put the key U.S. trading partner at odds with leaders in Washington, D.C. The U.S. has for decades had tense relations with Cuba due to Washington’s opposition to the communist government there, while also technically remaining at war with North Korea despite the conflict’s unofficial end in 1953.

“We have a position of hands-off around the world, we respect all governments, and we want to reopen the relationship with North Korea as well, like any other country,” Ebrard told reporters on the sidelines of a United Nations Security Council meeting in New York this weekend, Bloomberg reported.

Earlier this week, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador blamed the U.S. embargo of Cuba for the nation’s economic woes, which have stirred large-scale protests against the island nation’s communist government. “They are going through a difficult situation that I basically attribute to the blockade,” Lopez Obrador said.

Ebrard expressed a desire to do “what can be done on behalf of the entire community” in Cuba amid the protests.

Source: La Jornada

The Yucatan Times Newsroom