Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray met briefly with His Holiness Pope Francis today to thank him for his condolences and expressions of affection for Mexico after the September earthquakes.
During the World Food Day ceremony at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) where the pope was the keynote speaker, the Foreign Secretary thanked him on behalf of President Enrique Peña Nieto for the Holy See’s solidarity and support.
“I thanked him for his condolences, his messages of encouragement and his prayers for the earthquakes we suffered in September, and the Pope told me again that he continues to pray for Mexico,” said the Foreign Secretary.
Later at the Holy See, the Foreign Secretary met with the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, to discuss the 25th anniversary of renewed diplomatic relations between Mexico and the Vatican and creation of a binational commission to draw up a framework agreement for educational, cultural and legal cooperation issues.
“There has been a very special relationship over these 25 years. Our friendship and closeness is evident and we will work to strengthen the relationship,” said the Secretary.
Foreign Secretary Videgaray, Cardinal Parolin and Archbishop Gallagher specifically expressed their concern about the deteriorating situation in Venezuela and hoped for positive results from the negotiation process scheduled to take place between Nicolás Maduro’s government and the opposition under the auspices of the Dominican Republic and accompanied by countries such as Mexico and Chile, among others.
“We are in clear agreement with the Holy See and Cardinal Parolin about the seriousness of the situation in Venezuela and the breakdown of democratic order, and how we all need to use our best diplomatic efforts with full respect for the Venezuelans’ decisions for returning to full democracy there. Cardinal Parolin said that the Vatican has and must continue to play a very important role in looking for solutions for Venezuela, and we will continue working,” said the Foreign Secretary about his meeting with Vatican officials.
The Foreign Secretary met later in Rome with FAO Director-General José Graziano Da Silva to thank him for the invitation to attend the World Food Day ceremony.
The two pledged to expand the scope of the FAO’s office in Mexico and to increase its support for the “Mesoamerica without Hunger” program, in order to help improve the situation regarding poverty and migration in the region, especially in the Northern Triangle of Central America.
The Director-General announced the FAO’s support for the Global Migration Compact and the new focus of its technical support programs in Mexico, given current needs after the September earthquakes. Foreign Secretary Videgaray and Director Graziano Da Silva also agreed to hold the Regional Forum for the Empowerment of Indigenous Women in early 2018.
Lastly, the Secretary thanked the staff of the Mexican embassy in Italy for their diplomatic work and met with Italian business executives with operations in Mexico.