Mexico lambastes Trump's plans to make Mexico pay for wall

 Mexico will not pay for the border wall U.S. President Donald Trump wants to build, said Vanessa Rubio, Mexico's deputy minister of finance, on Thursday.

"Mexico will not pay if the United States continues with the building of this wall. Pretending that Mexico will pay for that wall is absurd," Rubio told a press conference.

She continued to warn that the sovereignty of Mexico would not be up for negotiation.

"We are living a new age for our country, and these are new times for our country and for the world," she added. "We will take firm, resolute and opportune decisions but we will not be pressured."

For Rubio, Mexico can count on a macroeconomic structure which is "healthy and stable" and that all measures to maintain this will be prioritized.

The deputy minister noted that the country is taking financial, fiscal and monetary measures that would not skimp on the options Mexico has before, based on the evaluation of the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank, including the exchange rate.

Rubio was speaking as it was announced that Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto would not meet Trump in the White House as planned on Jan. 31, due to the wall issue.

Rubio recognized that the Mexican government will continue to work for its sovereignty as well as to protect its nationals in the United States, including undocumented migrants Trump has threatened to deport.

"Mass deportations are currently a perception, not a reality. There is much uncertainty about this topic and we must wait for the negotiations that are a main topic on the Mexico-U.S. agenda," concluded the deputy minister.

source: Xinhua