Mexican people (in Mexico) believe they will pay for wall

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TIJUANA, Mexico— There seems to be little consensus in the raging binational debate over the issue of who will pay for the “big, beautiful border wall” that incoming President Donald Trump has promised the American people.

After months of insisting that “Mexico will pay for the wall”—a claim that three living Mexican presidents have resoundingly and repeatedly discredited—Trump now says that the United States will likely front the construction cost, which Mexico will later “reimburse.” That is, pending approval from Congress.

Speaking to Mexicans south of the border in Tijuana this week, it is clear that most are not buying Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto’s assertion on Wednesday that “Mexico—of course—will not pay” for the wall.

...every Mexican I spoke to inevitably offered the same response when asked, “Who will pay for ‘The Wall’?”

“Mexico,” more than a dozen people said, one after another. Indeed, not one believed in Mexico’s ability to stand behind its government’s reiterated promise.

“If the United States says Mexico is going to pay for the wall, then Mexico is going to pay for the wall. Period,” said 38-year-old Terán Palomares, who manages a seafood restaurant overlooking the border fence in Tijuana.

“Mexico is terrified of the U.S. and its power, and even more worried about any economic repercussions that could come from refusing to pay. Even if the final cost is disguised in some way—as an increase in foreign debt, or something—and isn’t just a lump sum from the Mexican government, Mexico will pay for it,”
On the streets of Tijuana, a local police officer stepped in to offer his opinion.

“Just watch. We’ll fold first,” the cop said, referencing the poker play that often follows a failed bluff.

“Mexico, to avoid problems with its neighbor, will definitely pay for the wall,” said Miguel Angél Martínez, who patrols the beach area where the border fence begins, extending into the Pacific at its westernmost point. “I have zero doubt about that.We aren’t about to go to war over this, not even a trade war,” the officer added matter-of-factly. “Before we know it we’ll be paying for the wall, in one way or another.”

The lack of confidence in Mexico’s ability to assert its sovereignty and govern in the country’s best interest—following trying years of political corruption scandals, international scorn over forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, and a plummeting currency value, which hit a new historic low against the dollar on Wednesday following Trump’s news conference—has left many feeling defeated and thoroughly disgruntled with the country’s political leaders.

“Even if we disagree with everything Trump says, at least he is being honest, unlike our president,” said Palomares, the restaurant manager. “Even if he turns out to be like a Hitler, Trump is—at least as far as we know—not yet a liar.”

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