MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico’s foreign minister said on Friday that Mexico would never support a violent solution to the crisis in Venezuela, whether internal or external, a day after U.S Secretary of State Rex Tillerson raised the prospect of a military uprising.

Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray made the comments in a news conference with Tillerson and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland in Mexico City.

Tillerson said on Friday that he wanted to see a free, fair election in Venezuela and a return to the constitution. He added that Mexico should pay attention to Russian intervention in elections around the world ahead of its July presidential election. </s> Tillerson's Mexico stop kicks off a weeklong trip to Latin America which will take him to Argentina, Peru, and Colombia, with a final stop in Jamaica. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico's foreign relations secretary said Friday that it might come as a surprise but his country's relationship with the United States today is "more fluid" and "closer" than it was with previous U.S. administrations.

Mexico has had well-publicized disagreements with President Donald Trump during the past year over trade, immigration and payment for a proposed border wall. But Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Videgaray said that "with the Trump administration, we're committed to having a very close communication and that has proven to be a tremendous benefit for the relationship."

"It might be surprising to some people, but that's a fact of life," Videgaray said at a joint news conference in Mexico with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland. The three countries are currently renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Tillerson's stop in Mexico kicked off a six-day Latin America trip that will also take him to Panama, Argentina, Peru, Colombia and Jamaica. He was greeted in Mexico City by a handful of protesters holding up signs reading "Dreamers, Trump's hostages," and "We are workers, not terrorists, not criminals."

The three spoke about security concerns, especially the trafficking in opiates and synthetic opiates like fentanyl that have caused a wave of overdose deaths.

"Given the deadly nature of the opioid crisis, we must do more to attack the business model of those who traffic drugs and guns," said Tillerson.

Asked about reports of Russian meddling in Mexico's July 1 presidential elections, Tillerson said "we know that Russia has fingerprints on elections around the world ... my advice to Mexico would be to pay attention."

The three officials said they also discussed the political and economic crisis in Venezuela and its government's decision to push up presidential elections to April under conditions that opponents say overwhelmingly favor President Nicolas Maduro, who is so far the only candidate.

"We shared our concerns for the humanitarian crisis that has unfolded in Venezuela," Tillerson said. "We all urge the Maduro regime to return to free, open credible, democratic elections."

Videgaray was quick to note that Mexico has limits on how far it will go in pressuring Venezuela.

"Mexico will in no case support any option that implies violence," Videgaray said.

Tillerson said the United States wants to see a "peaceful transition."

"If President Maduro would return to the Venezuelan constitution, restore the duly elected assembly, dismantle the illegitimate constituent assembly and return to free and fair elections, then he's happy to stay and run in the free and fair elections," Tillerson said. "If he wants to step aside and let someone else run in them, that's fine."

Venezuelan officials condemned Tillerson's remarks earlier Thursday at the University of Texas. Tillerson said that throughout the course of Latin America's history it has often been the military which has stepped in to "manage a peaceful transition."

That stung the Venezuelan government, whose soldiers have reportedly been going hungry like much of the rest of the population.

Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez went on state television Friday, flanked by a half-dozen military officers in uniform, to denounce Tillerson's comments. He said Venezuela's military is united and would never succumb to the influence of a foreign power.

"You don't know what you are doing," he said. "I invite you to correct yourself."

Venezuelan officials accused Tillerson of using his current trip to increase pressure on governments around the region to join the U.S. in "a perverse plan of aggressions against Venezuela."

AP writer Christine Armario contributed to this report from Bogota, Colombia </s> MEXICO CITY, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Mexico’s foreign minister said on Friday that Mexico would never support a violent solution to the crisis in Venezuela, whether internal or external, a day after U.S Secretary of State Rex Tillerson raised the prospect of a military uprising.

Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray made the comments in a news conference with Tillerson and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland in Mexico City.

Tillerson said on Friday that he wanted to see a free, fair election in Venezuela and a return to the constitution. He added that Mexico should pay attention to Russian intervention in elections around the world ahead of its July presidential election. (Reporting by Anthony Esposito and Gabriel Stargardter) </s> MEXICO CITY, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Mexico's foreign minister said on Friday that Mexico would never support a violent solution to the crisis in Venezuela, whether internal or external, a day after U.S Secretary of State Rex Tillerson raised the prospect of a military uprising.

Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray made the comments in a news conference with Tillerson and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland in Mexico City.

Tillerson said on Friday that he wanted to see a free, fair election in Venezuela and a return to the constitution. He added that Mexico should pay attention to Russian intervention in elections around the world ahead of its July presidential election. (Reporting by Anthony Esposito and Gabriel Stargardter) </s> MEXICO CITY, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Venezuelans must find a peaceful solution to the democratic crisis facing their country, Mexico’s Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said on Friday, a day after U.S Secretary of State Rex Tillerson raised the prospect of a military uprising.

Videgaray, who said Mexico would use all available diplomatic means to address the situation in Venezuela, spoke after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland in Mexico City.

Tillerson said on Thursday that the Venezuelan military could decide to oust President Nicolas Maduro, but said he did not know whether that would happen. (Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter and Anthony Esposito) </s> MEXICO CITY, Feb 2 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray on Friday and discussed security and migration, Mexico's government said.

After the 20-minute meeting, they were joined by Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, said Steve Goldstein, U.S. undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs. He said more information would be available later.

Mexico is trying to prove itself a good U.S. ally in hopes of getting a favorable outcome from renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and the United States.

Tillerson, Videgaray and Freeland are expected to hold a news conference in Mexico City on Friday afternoon. Tillerson is also due to meet with President Enrique Pena Nieto. (Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter and Christine Murray; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn) </s> MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico's foreign relations secretary says it might come as a surprise, but the country's relationship with the United States today is "more fluid, it's closer than it was with previous administrations."

Luis Videgaray said: "It might be surprising to some people, but that's a fact of life."

The comments were made at a joint news conference in Mexico on Friday with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland.

Mexico has had well-known disagreements with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump during the past year over trade, immigration and payment for a proposed border wall.

Tillerson's stop in the country kicked off a six-day Latin America trip that will also take him to Panama, Argentina, Peru, Colombia and Jamaica.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> Canada has suspended operations at its embassy in Venezuela because its diplomats will no longer be able to obtain visas.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement on Sunday that Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro's "regime has taken steps to limit the ability of foreign embassies to function in Venezuela".

Canada is one of a dozen countries in the Lima Group regional bloc that recognises opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate president and is demanding that Maduro resign.

"Unfortunately, at the end of this month, Canadian diplomats in Venezuela will no longer be in a position to obtain diplomatic accreditation under the Maduro regime and their visas will expire," Freeland said in the statement.

"Therefore, we are left with no choice but to temporarily suspend our operations at the embassy of Canada to Venezuela, effective immediately," she said.

Freeland said Canada was "also evaluating the status of Venezuelan diplomats appointed by the Maduro regime to Canada."

The Venezuelan foreign ministry has made no comment on the events.

Canada has been one of the countries at the forefront of international efforts to pressure Maduro to resign since he was reelected in a ballot widely criticised as a sham.

Under Maduro, Venezuela has slipped into an economic, political and humanitarian crises with inflation estimated to reach 10m percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Untied Nations figures say more than three million people have fled the country since the economic crisis began in 2014, amid food and medicine shortages and a sharp spike in crime.

More than 50 countries now recognise Guaido as oil-rich Venezuela's leader, however, Maduro's administration continues to control state institutions and enjoys the support of the country's powerful military.

Canada's suspension of embassy operations comes as Freeland and other Lima Group representatives are set to meet the International Contact Group on Venezuela (ICG) in New York on Monday to discuss the crises.

It is the first time the two groups - which were both formed to exert international pressure on Maduro - have met over Venezuela.

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and the foreign ministers of Portugal and Uruguay will represent the ICG, while Peruvian Foreign Minister Nestor Popolizio and Chilean Foreign Minister Roberto Ampuero, along with Freeland will represent the Lima Group.

Freeland said on Sunday that through the Lima Group, Canada will continue to advocate for democracy in Venezuela.

Monday's meeting follows the breakdown of talks between Venezuela's government and the country's opposition in Norway, which collapsed without an agreement on Thursday. </s> MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The United States’ top diplomat landed in Mexico on Thursday with debate swirling over the government’s efforts to win favor with Washington and save the NAFTA pact from collapse, sparking concerns it is ceding sovereignty to its northern neighbor.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson steps off his plane as he arrives to the presidential hangar in Mexico City, Mexico February 1, 2018. REUTERS/Henry Romero

Mexico has been at pains to prove itself a good ally to the United States on combating drug trafficking and immigration, in hopes this would help efforts to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement on as favorable terms as possible.

Those secret efforts sprang into view this week, when Reuters exclusively reported that Mexico is considering allowing U.S. air marshals aboard commercial cross-border flights, igniting a debate over what lengths Mexico should go to in order to win favor with its top trade partner.

“The question is, what else is (Foreign Minister Luis) Videgaray giving to Trump and his collaborators in exchange for preserving NAFTA?” Salvador Garcia Soto asked in his El Universal newspaper column, decrying Videgaray’s “opaque” maneuvering.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson landed in Mexico City on Thursday afternoon and was due to have dinner with Videgaray and other senior Mexican government and national security officials at U.S. Ambassador Roberta Jacobson’s residence.

Although Tillerson has not been a prominent player in the NAFTA discussions, the future of the treaty is certain to loom over his visit, especially at a trilateral meeting with Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland on Friday.

Mexico’s government, and particularly the foreign ministry, has pushed hard to defend NAFTA, a lynchpin of its export-led economy, ahead of a July 2018 election in which the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party is currently polling third.

“All our efforts right now are based around NAFTA and making sure the pact doesn’t collapse,” said a senior Mexican diplomat.

Videgaray has said closer cooperation with the United States is the best way to achieve Mexico’s foreign policy aims.

“Obviously that would be something that we strongly want to avoid,” Videgaray said at an event in New York late last year, referring to NAFTA collapsing. “We realize that we could achieve much more by being constructive and by approaching the relationship looking for common ground ... with very active cooperation.”

Quizzed by ruling party lawmakers on Tuesday, Videgaray denied the air marshals were part of any NAFTA quid pro quo, but said the government was studying the plan.

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Tillerson’s Mexico City visit is the first leg in a week-long Latin America trip in which he hopes to keep up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro over his restrictions on domestic political opposition.

Earlier on Thursday, in a speech at his alma mater University of Texas at Austin, Tillerson raised the prospect that the Venezuelan military could decide to oust President Nicolas Maduro but said he did not know whether that would happen.

Tillerson insisted the Trump administration was not advocating “regime change” in Venezuela but said it would be “easiest” if Maduro chose to leave power on his own.

In his most important regional policy statement since his appointment, Tillerson also warned Latin American countries against excessive reliance on economic ties with China, while sounding alarm over Russia’s growing presence.

Tillerson is due to meet with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, and Videgaray for a second time, on Friday, and they are certain to discuss Central American migration and drug trafficking, two areas in which Mexico has sought to work more closely with the United States since U.S. President Donald Trump took office.

Videgaray, who flew to Washington earlier this week ahead of Tillerson’s arrival, is Pena Nieto’s most trusted adviser, and has forged close ties with Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who serves as a senior advisor to the president.

The influential foreign minister has stepped to the fore of regional Latin American efforts to condemn Maduro’s government and has also proved a good friend to the Trump administration on sensitive foreign policy issues including North Korea, Israel and Honduras.

Former Mexican diplomat and intelligence official Gustavo Mohar said it would be foolish to assume such efforts could yield a positive NAFTA result.

“The priority of Mexico’s foreign policy in the short-term has been to reach an agreement with the Trump government on trade,” he said. “But that doesn’t guarantee you anything, because this guy (Trump) is very unpredictable.”
Mexico's Secretary of Foreign Affairs Luis Videgaray Caso, flanked by visiting United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Canadian counterpart Chrystia Freeland, rejects "any option that would imply the use of violence" on the subject of Venezuela. On the eve of his visit, Tillerson had defended the 19th-century United States policy in Latin America and suggested that the Venezuelan Army could manage a "peaceful transition" from President Nicolás Maduro.