Elvia Díaz

opinion columnist

President Donald Trump may not like Mexico and its people, but media reports about threatening to send the U.S. military to combat drug trafficking are disturbing at best and a dangerous provocation at worst.

Proceso.com.mx and aristeguinoticias.com are reporting in Spanish that Trump not only humiliated President Enrique Peña Nieto but threatened the Mexican leader when they spoke by phone after cancelling their White House meeting a few days ago.

The reports are based on the work of Washington, D.C.-based journalist Dolia Estévez, who wrote that she obtained confidential information on both sides of the border that detailed the phone conversation of the two leaders.

Trump reportedly insisted that Mexico pay for the wall one way or another and that the U.S. doesn’t need Mexico or its citizens. Most disturbing is that he reportedly hinted about sending U.S. military onto Mexican soil to combat drug trafficking.

The Mexican Foreign Ministry's Office posted on its Twitter account a letter addressed to Estévez, denying all her claims.

What reportedly started this mess?

The standoff grew from Trump's directives to build a border wall and a series of immigration-related orders aimed chiefly at Mexico.

Whatever Peña Nieto and Trump are saying publicly, it is not far-fetched to believe the threat accusation given Trump's animosity toward Mexico.

We don’t know exactly what the two leaders spoke about during that phone conversation, but we’ve seen enough of Trump’s prejudice to lend credence to Estévez​'s account.

Whatever you think of Mexico, this would not be the way for the president of the United States to treat another head of state, especially of the country with a 2,000-mile shared border and is such an important economic partner.

Trump is displaying the attributes of a strongman who’s unnecessarily humiliating a perceived weaker opponent.

Any reasonable person would acknowledge Mexico’s economic, political and social problems, which have contributed to massive immigration to the United States over the decades.

Peña Nieto is no saint, but that's no excuse

It’s fair to say Mexico’s democracy remains in its infancy, given that Peña Nieto’s party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party, ruled the country from 1929 to 2000.

Hell broke loose during the 12-year reign of the conservative National Action Party’s war on drugs that has since left more than 100,000 people dead.

Let’s not be coy about it. Drug-related violence, economic policies favoring the wealthy and government corruption have indeed driven Mexicans to the cross the U.S. border illegally.

And Peña Nieto’s victory in 2012 drew fears of the return of the PRI and its old authoritarian tactics. His presidency has been marred with controversy ranging from his wife’s improperly buying a multimillion-dollar home to plagiarism.

Peña Nieto is no saint. He’s facing those and many other social and economic problems.

But that’s no reason for Trump, as the leader of the free world, to humiliate him.

Why picking on Mexico is so dangerous

Despite Mexico’s woes, the country in recent years has managed to build an impressive middle class, which is more internationally connected but one that nonetheless wants to remain on its own soil.

At the same time, more immigrants are returning to Mexico than coming to the United States, according to a Pew Research Center.

Any reasonable person would appreciate the benefits of working with Mexico to keep building the middle class so its citizens see reason to stay in their country.

Any reasonable person would not be blind to the fact that drug-trafficking from Mexico is the direct result of the high demand for drugs in the U.S.

Any reasonable person would understand that bullies succeed only until the perceived weaker opponent fights back — at any cost.

Peña Nieto may be weaker than Trump. But Trump has wounded Mexico’s pride and that, my friends, can have devastating consequences for both countries.

Elvia Díaz is an editorial columnist for The Republic and azcentral. Reach her at 602-444-8606 or elvia.diaz@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter, @elviadiaz1.