Mexican and Brazilian President congratulate Biden on US election win after long delay

The leaders of Latin America’s two greatest economies, Brazil and Mexico, congratulated Joe Biden on Tuesday on his election triumph after a long pause that inflamed criticism they were inviting danger by ignoring the US president-elect.

Mexico’s Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro both remained quiet until the day after Biden’s November 3 election victory was affirmed by the US Electoral College before recognising it, each leader spreading the risk of separating Biden and his fellow Democrats with their elongated delay.

Lopez Obrador and Bolsonaro are ideologically counterparts in the area but found familiar ground in pausing longer than almost all other leaders of the state.

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un may be the only key world leader who has still to acknowledge Biden’s victory over Republican President Donald Trump in last month’s election.

Trump himself has denied admitting defeat, making unsupported allegations of extensive balloter deception and attempting failed legal attempts to overthrow the results.

For weeks, Lopez Obrador claimed it was reasonable to wait until Trump’s constitutional challenges completed.

At his daily morning news conference, Lopez Obrador announced he granted the incoming American leader a letter congratulating Biden’s “triumph”.

He stressed the Democratic former vice president’s pro-immigrant stance and suggested the two neighbours work together on the thorny issue, after years of Trump’s unprecedented demands that the Mexican government do more to reduce the flow of US-bound migrants.

“I also want to display my acceptance of your place in favour of Mexican and the world’s migrants, which will encourage the survival of our program to support development and well-being in southeastern Mexico and amongst the nations of Central America,” Lopez Obrador inscribed.

In Brasilia, the far-right Bolsonaro finally accepted the loss of Trump, a political idol with whom he had attempted to form more intimate relations.

“Greetings to President Joe Biden, with my best wishes and the belief that the USA will continue to be ‘the land of the free and the home of the brave,'” Bolsonaro announced in a statement that cited the US national anthem.