Revenant director Alejandro Inarritu slams Mexican president for Trump meeting
Oscar winner pens op-ed in Spanish newspaper El Pais, joining Mexican voices condemning Enrique Pena Nieto
Oscar-winning director Alejandro Inarritu says he "felt a deep sadness, anger and shame" at Enrique Pena Nieto's invitation to Donald Trump to visit Mexico.
Inarritu, who was born in Mexico City, wrote an opinion article in the Spanish newspaper El Pais Friday, calling the move a "betrayal."
"After this event and as a Mexican citizen, Enrique Pena Nieto does not represent me," he wrote following the U.S. Republican presidential nominee's visit to his home country Wednesday.
Inarritu, whose films Birdman and The Revenant won him back-to-back Academy Awards for directing in 2015 and 2016, joins a storm of criticism surrounding Trump's meeting with Nieto.
Many Mexicans expressed disappointment that Trump offered no apology about his past references to undocumented Mexican immigrants as being "rapists" and criminals. There were also contradictory stories over Trump's plan to have Mexico pay to build a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
Trump insisted the two men didn't discuss who would pay for the wall, but Pena Nieto said he made it clear to Trump that Mexico would not pay.
"Trump should have been named long ago by our government 'persona non grata,'" Inarritu wrote, adding the billionaire businessman-turned-politician has intensified "hatred and division in the country."