Boys play around, climbing the border division between Mexico and the US in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on Jan. 26, 2017.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday told Mexico鈥檚 president to cancel an upcoming visit to Washington if he is unwilling to foot the bill for a border wall. Escalating a cross border war of words, Trump took to Twitter to publicly upbraid Enrique Pena Nieto. 鈥淚f Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting.鈥� AFP
MEXICO CITY, Mexico 鈥� Mexico welcomed on Monday a senior US official鈥檚 suggestion that drug cartels could pay for a controversial border wall, but the idea raised eyebrows in local media.
US President Donald Trump has angered Mexico by insisting that he will make the country pay for a massive barrier along the border, though he has yet to specify exactly how.
White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said Sunday there was a 鈥渂uffet of options鈥� to fund the wall along the 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) border.
搁贰础顿:听How Trump鈥檚 plan to pay for Mexico border wall would work
鈥淭here is no final conclusion on exactly how this wall is going to be paid for by the Mexican government,鈥� he told CBS鈥檚 鈥淔ace the Nation.鈥�
鈥淚t can either be through a tax on goods coming across the border. It be through tax reform and a formula on import and export taxes and credits. It could be on drug cartels. And it could be on people that are coming here illegally and paying fines. Or it could be all of the above.鈥�
Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan has estimated the wall鈥檚 cost at between $12 and $15 billion.
Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray, who was in Washington last week for talks with US officials, welcomed the suggestion that cartels pay for the wall.
鈥淚t鈥檚 undoubtedly positive progress that they are talking about someone that is not Mexico. Narcos are not Mexico,鈥� Videgaray told the Televisa network.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a signal that 鈥� at least that鈥檚 how I interpret it 鈥� must be welcomed because we are already seeing how the discussion is changing.鈥�
READ: Is Trump鈥檚 wall project feasible?
Videgaray said Mexican and US officials could meet in the next few days.
President Enrique Pena Nieto canceled a meeting with Trump scheduled for Tuesday in Washington in protest over his wall plan, but the two leaders later instructed their teams to continue the dialogue.
Priebus did not explain how the authorities would get money from the cartels.
The US Treasury Department has imposed sanctions that block Mexican drug lords鈥� US assets.
Courts can also seize the funds of convicted kingpins.
US federal prosecutors, for example, are seeking a $14 billion forfeiture from Sinaloa drug cartel baron Joaquin 鈥淓l Chapo鈥� Guzman, who was extradited to New York on January 19, on the eve of Trump鈥檚 inauguration.
Priebus鈥檚 suggestion surprised Mexican media.
The national daily Reforma exclaimed on its front page: 鈥淭hey are analyzing making cartels pay!鈥� and the story described the option as 鈥渘ot very conventional.鈥�
The headline in another newspaper, Excelsior, said: 鈥淣ow they want narcos to pay for the wall.鈥�
A cartoon in Excelsior featured a drug lord sitting on a bag of money, holding an assault rifle and asking: 鈥淲hat is Trump smoking?鈥澛�CBB