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President Donald Trump compared this Friday the crisis unleashed by the arrival of thousands of people from Morocco to the Spanish city of Ceuta to "an invasion" and warned Americans about the risk of something similar happening in their own country.
"I saw yesterday (Thursday) what happened in Spain, the catastrophe that occurred," Trump said at a cabinet meeting held at his Camp David retreat in Maryland. "It looks like the invasion of a country by hundreds of thousands of people, and the same thing will happen to us if Republicans are not elected, only it will be worse, much bigger," he maintained.
Trump, in a poor electoral position ahead of the midterm legislative elections in November, has sought to take advantage of the crisis against the Democratic opposition.
Shortly before, the State Department had released a statement to point out that the situation in Ceuta is a "direct result" of Spanish migration policy.
"This unacceptable incident is the direct result of the Spanish government's deliberate efforts to permit and facilitate mass illegal migration into Europe," accused a press release from American diplomacy.
"The United States stands in solidarity with the people of Spain, and with all Europeans, in the face of this flagrant violation of their sovereignty and human rights," the text asserted.
The United States is evaluating measures to protect its citizens abroad and is willing to "assist other European allies who are considering similar options," it warned.
The incident in Ceuta sounded alarms in other European countries. Italy proposed temporarily suspending the free movement of citizens coming from Spain.
At least 34 people died in the attempt to reach the enclave of Ceuta, on the northern tip of Africa, according to the local government.
[Publicidad]