Mexico President Blasts US Billions To Ukraine As "Irrational" - Says Focus On Latin America

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is no stranger to issuing pointed and scathing criticisms of Washington foreign policy.

On Monday he did it again, but this time related to US military aid to Ukraine, at a sensitive moment that some Congressional Republican holdouts are trying to strip Ukraine funding from the defense budget. Lopez Obrador took the opportunity to question why more US foreign aid isn't being invested in America's own backyard. In this context, he blasted sinking billions into Ukraine as "irrational". 

"I was just looking at how now they're not authorizing aid for the war in Ukraine," he said during a daily press briefing. "But how much have they destined for the Ukraine war? 30 to 50 billion dollars for the war. Which is the most irrational thing you can have. And damaging."

"So they do have to modify their strategy and learn respect. It's not the time for them to ignore Mexican authorities," The Mexican president added.

Reuters underscored that in the remarks he "urged Washington to devote more resources to helping Latin American countries."

The leftist Lopez Obrador has maintained a neutral stance regarding Ukraine, in line with other Global South countries, but has generally been supportive of a number of UN resolutions rebuking 'Russian aggression'. 

At the same time, he has still been more cooperative with Moscow than any of the big Western powers would ever be at this point, as Reuters also notes:

Two weeks ago the president defended the presence of a Russian military unit in a weekend parade marking Mexico's independence day, following sharp criticism that his country had given a platform to forces that invaded Ukraine.

Lopez Obrador has also frequently taken aim at US sanctions, having just last week linked anti-Cuba and anti-Venezuela sanction to a surge in migrant activity across the region and at the US border.

"They (the U.S.) don’t do anything," he said last Friday, according to the Associated Press. "It’s more, a lot more, what they authorize for the war in Ukraine than what they give to help with poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean."

He called on US leaders "to remove blockades and stop harassing independent and free countries, an integrated plan for cooperation so the Venezuelans, Cubans, Nicaraguans and Ecuadorans, Guatemalans and Hondurans wouldn’t be forced to emigrate."