Our country undoubtedly faces enormous public policy challenges – some of them existential – as well as an inevitable debate about the vision of the Mexican state on the road to next year’s presidential elections.
As is the case in most countries (except at particular historical moments), foreign policy will not define how Mexicans end up voting at the polls. But it does have an essential impact on Mexico’s well-being, prosperity, security, and national interests.
That is why what we have witnessed these past weeks is alarming.
Mexico’s aimless foreign policy
There were 10 days in September in which President López Obrador once again turned his back on the world, ignored foreign policy, and gave the finger to both the rules-based international system and to international relations. His is a foreign policy adrift, with the unavoidable consequence of sending Mexico’s world credibility hurtling towards rock bottom.
First, the President did not attend (once again) a key summit of a mechanism to which Mexico belongs – the G20, in India – and missed his fifth United Nations General Assembly in a row. There will be no shortage of supporters of the 4T (López Obrador’s “fourth transformation” movement) who will argue: What difference does it make? Nothing happens in these forums.
López Obrador himself has taken to affirming the same in his increasingly contentious rhetoric against the U.N. But let’s see what actually did happen at two of these forums.
At the G20, the chess game of global governance is being decided as other groups coalesce, such as the expanded BRICS.
And both at this summit and in the U.N. General Assembly, what sometimes matters more than anything else are the bilateral meetings of leaders that take place in parallel. The absence of the Mexican head of state means that our country lost opportunities for dialogue.
What is López Obrador’s international vision?
The last month seems to have come full circle in our country’s current international vision, with Mexico’s return to the G-77, an international forum that we abandoned as irrelevant in 1994 when we joined the OECD, and with a photo-op of the Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary with her Russian counterpart in New York. Body language says a lot about the utter tone-deafness in this government when it comes to foreign policy and current events.
The cluelessness with which our president operates culminated in reversing himself, announcing that despite having previously confirmed his attendance, he wouldn’t be attending the APEC Summit in San Francisco in November (he since has pulled a U-turn on this, affirming a couple of weeks ago that he has reconsidered and would, after all, participate). The reason he gave at the time? The participation of Peru, a country with which “we have no relations”, according to López Obrador, though the two countries continue to have diplomatic relations.
This last invective leads us to the cherry on the cake of these shocking 10 days of foreign policy blunders.
Is López Obrador provoking the U.S.?
It is not entirely clear whether the real reason for López Obrador’s about face regarding the APEC Summit had to do with Peruvian participation, or if in reality, this is nothing more than a smokescreen to cover up the fact that U.S. diplomats may have at the time nixed a bilateral meeting between López Obrador and Biden on the sidelines of the summit. This is perhaps not surprising in the context of the shameful and unjustifiable decision to permit a Russian contingent to participate in the Independence Day parade on Sept. 16.
The president claims that critics have made “a lot of fuss” over the Russian presence in the parade. But let’s take a step back.
There is no doubt that the parade was an endorsement of authoritarian regimes with the contingents – Nicaraguan, Cuban, Venezuelan – that marched in it. But the Russian issue is a separate one: it is a provocation, international bravado directed against our main trading partner and neighbor, and against the European Union and the nations that have supported Ukraine in confronting and repelling the Russian aggression.
Since the last time Russia participated in a National Independence military parade during the bicentennial of our independence in 2010, Moscow has twice – in 2014 with the illegal annexation of Crimea, and now in 2022 with the attack on the rest of Ukraine – violated international law and the U.N. charter, invading without justification and in a premeditated manner an independent and sovereign nation. And for good measure, Putin has an arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Russian troops on Ukrainian soil.
This latest cascade of mistakes is like a torpedo below the waterline of Mexico’s reputation and credibility in the main diplomatic capitals of the world.
What these 10 fateful days of Mexican diplomacy – or the lack thereof – have shown is a president and an administration without a moral compass and a geopolitical north star. Above all, this reveals that this particular “style” of stale, clumsy presidential diplomacy does take its toll on our country.
Biden will ensure that the relationship with Mexico is not derailed at a time when migratory flows to the U.S. are once again increasing in a vertiginous – and electorally dangerous – manner. But in a US presidential campaign where the GOP and GOP presidential contenders are resorting to Mexico-bashing as if the country were a piñata, perceptions can become reality.
With Lopez Obrador’s evisceration of security, intelligence and law-enforcement cooperation with the U.S., his narrative that fentanyl is not produced in Mexico and that it is “not Mexico’s problem”, and now – in the immediate aftermath of the horrific terrorist attack by Hamas against Israelis – his refusal to condemn Hamas and call it what it is, a terrorist organization, the president is stirring up hurricanes in the relationship with the U.S., with members of Congress of both parties, and with public opinion in general.
If we take into account that in a summer survey of U.S. voters who identify themselves as Republicans, 46% (compared to 18% in 2021) say Mexico is “perceived” as an “enemy” of the U.S., and that in a new poll out last week, a strong majority of people in the United States believe that the U.S. and Mexico have equal responsibility for stopping illegal immigration and drug trafficking, yet only 16% see Mexico as a “close ally”, I can’t tell you what images of Russian soldiers in the Zócalo will do to our major trading partner’s perceptions of Mexico, in the run-up to a presidential election.
This article was originally published in El Universal newspaper.
Arturo Sarukhan has had a distinguished education and career, serving as Mexico’s ambassador to the U.S. (2007-2013), and in additional advisory roles in both Mexico and the U.S. Currently based in Washington, D.C., he writes about international issues for various media outlets and is a regular opinion columnist published on Mexico News Daily.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mexico News Daily, its owner or its employees.
Good afternoon to all and thank you for your comments and feedback. I have read them with interest and carefully.
This is an opinion piece; you may certainly not agree -as many of you have- with my take, my views, my opinions and concerns regarding Mexico today. And there has to be a firewall between the excellent reporting MND does on all things Mexico and those of us being invited to write opinion columns.
And allow me to underscore that I have never had or held -nor do I have today- any partisan affiliation with a Mexican political party. I am a career ambassador and served as a career diplomat for 23 years in the Mexican Foreign Service. I have political opinions of course, but I do not have a partisan affiliation whatsoever. And no, despite what one reader commented here, I “never supported” the government of Peña Nieto. I left the foreign service and the government precisely when Pena Nieto came into power. So yes, I will take issue with misleading characterizations like this one, in a respectful and hopefully constructive manner.
I look forward to engaging with you in an open and honest debate and discussion whenever feasible and possible, and I will always strive to give my personal take on issues affecting Mexico and Mexicans and the expat community there.
Best wishes to all MND readers.
Personally, I thank you for your perspective and look forward to your articles!!
I am impressed that we have you here, thank you.
So much passion in these comments! The objective truth is that both the U.S. and Mexico share a border, a history, and a wealthy future. Both the U.S. and Mexico also harbor hate and distrust for good reasons. Americans look down on Mexico as violent and untrustworthy while Mexico and its presidents have made full-time jobs out of bashing the enormous piñata to their north. However, the truth is that Mexico (and AMLO) needs America more than America or Biden needs Mexico. And Mexico will likely do what its always done, overestimate its own clout feign indignation, and flirt with the likes of Russia, Cuba and Hamas.
I don’t understand the controversy. AMLO has been Presidente for almost 5 years now, and has a record that is consistent. He’s a typical Latin American socialist radical, so he truly hates the USA. He understands he must work with the USA, but he doesn’t like it. His base mostly hates the USA also. This allows him room for small displays of his dislike for the USA while winning him points with the voters.
I have broad philosophical differences with AMLO, but begrudgingly admire that he has made good economic decisions for Mexico, resulting in a historically strong peso and improved overall business prospects for Mexico.
Finally he is consistent because, unless there is an opportunity to make a cheap shot at the USA, foreign affairs take a very distant 2nd place to his country and his people. He’s not scamming for a professorships or cushy executive job with some fancy NGO or worse, the UN.
So yeah, I have a few bones to pick with AMLO, but I’m looking at the big picture.
He’s looking out for Mexicans, from what I see. Good for him.
I have been a resident of Mexico for 20 Years, which is actually a very short time in comparison the hundreds of years this country has been in existence, and have experienced life here under 3 different presidents. From my humble viewpoint, I see that this country and its people have progressed in so many ways under AMLO’s leadership. Economically, Mexico while surpassing Canada and China as the number 1 trading partner of the USA, Mexico has trading relations with every major trading region in the world. Presently, the amount of external/foreign investment, including USA corporations, in Mexico exceeds both the USA and Canada. Mexico has amicable relations with countries of all political stripes and is capable of taking its own path, ignoring outside pressures ie: USA political pressure, when its deemed beneficial for Mexico to do so. Mexico is not obligated to pick sides in any conflict around the world, as other countries seem to think its their duty to decide who is good or bad, at least in their eyes, and set embargos, etc. AMLO is not perfect but he sure is a welcome change when compared to the corrupt regimes which have lead this country in the recent past. His ability to work with a variety of groups for the betterment of the country and its people is quite evident.
Well said.
AMLO takes these pot shots because he is not worried about the US administration taking them very seriously. Trump railed against the hordes of rapists and murderers and job stealers south of the border, then promptly changed the name of NAFTA and proceeded to approve changes that strengthened labor rights and required more value added inside the agreement countries. As others mentioned, he is feeding the resentment many Mexicans feel. His true disservice is to Mexican immigrants living in the US. The level of Republican resentment cannot be easy for them.
John Genereux
I agree with much that you write regarding AMLO’s routine comments & deeds that aggravate D.C. but not sure of any political actions that have severely impaired the relationship with the U.S. Although you write you are not partisan, I sense a slant towards your disdain for AMLO. I suspect he is no more remiss serving the folks of Mexico than his recent predecessors- Nieto, Calderon, & Fox. Perhaps, going forward, a comparative assessment would be in order. I enjoyed much your piece.
It is not “disdain”, Dan. Far from it; he is the most accomplished retail politician -and retail president- Mexico has ever had, and he has given a sense of political empowerment and voice to millions who for decades felt ignored and forgotten. That said, I am extremely worried over the evisceration of the Mexican State (patently and painfully clear in Acapulco), the Trumpian and constant us vs them discourse, the erosion of checks and balances, his assault on the Supreme Court and autonomous bodies, and the role he has given the Armed Forces in public policy matters -and pet infrastructure projects- beyond domestic security. And certainly on the foreign policy front, I am openly critical of his stance; no hiding that. Thanks for your comments.
I like, in time, a comparison or at least a bio on all prior presidents.
It is not “disdain”, Dan. Far from it; he is the most accomplished retail politician -and retail president- Mexico has ever had, and he has given a sense of political empowerment and voice to millions who for decades felt ignored and forgotten. That said, I am extremely worried over the evisceration of the Mexican State (patently and painfully clear in Acapulco), the Trumpian and constant us vs them discourse, the erosion of checks and balances, his assault on the Supreme Court and autonomous bodies, and the role he has given the Armed Forces in public policy matters -and pet infrastructure projects- beyond domestic security. And certainly on the foreign policy front, I am openly critical of his stance; no hiding that. Thanks for your comments.
Thank you! As an economist (International Econ MA with specialty and years working in multiple countries in the Americas, and former US Senate staffer) with 21 years in Mexico, I share your concerns and hope that his successor, even if Claudia Scheinbaum of his MORENA party wins, will take a different approach on everything you mention.
Thank you Ambassador. I enjoy reading your opinion. I’d be very interested in your thoughts about what the forthcoming administration of Claudia or Xochitil will bring.
I could write at length about what is good and “needs improvement” in Mexico. Number one thing is eliminating as much as possible the corruption in all areas of government there and the inaction of the law enforcement. My wife is from Veracruz and Monterrey and moved to the US to marry me on a Fiance visa which we waited for 9 months to be processed and paid a good sum of money to do it the right way. She moved in her late 30’s, 11 years ago. All her family is still in Mexico, so we visit often and I used to go there for work reason frequently. I have seen much of Mexico and talk to my friends down there about society and political issues. Most of my friends in Mexico think AMLO is a complete disaster for a president. To US people in the know, AMLO is just a idealistic, promise poor people stuff, old socialist. It’s obvious that socialism will turn Mexico in Venuzuela if AMLO gets his way. Things that have happened to better the economy in Mexico have nothing to do with AMLO or whoever could have been president. It has to do with American companies wanting to do less business with China and Mexico is a good next option. Many American companies see an advantage just from Mexico being in the same time zone and shipping done by rail or truck and business will continue to increase in Mexico because of that reason. Mexico needs to make public education better. So many friends just pay the money to have their kids in private school because the public schools are not up to par. Mexico MUST eliminate or minimize the cartels. Seeing the police do nothing about them just emboldens petty crime and theft for non-cartel idiots. The fact they can do whatever they want, take over towns, steal property, knowingly steal avacado farms and the government does NOTHING is a complete disgrace. The high level of human trafficking in Mexico is a disgrace. The unsolved murder rate is a disgrace. Seeing the police do nothing about law breakers just emboldens petty crime and theft for non-cartel idiots. Outlawing guns for the general public is not working in Mexico when the cartels drive around in armored vehicles with 0.50 caliber rifles on the back. The drug trade I solely blame on the stupid users in the US that drive the demand. No drug use, no violent cartels. Or now maybe the cartels will just do other illegitimate business, like violently stealing farms from families. Another example of corruption: We have a friend in Monterrey who wanted to build on to their house, so they had to get a permit. The government permit giver suggested that a little extra money would make the permit approval go faster and no extra money would greatly delay the approval. They refused to pay the bribe. That would not happen in the US. Permits can be slow, but bribes don’t help in the US and will likely land you in jail. Too many police officers want a bribe to get out of a ticket. We were wrongly stopped for speeding, we weren’t, and the police wanted a bribe to make it all go away. Get rid of all that, but Mexico will have to pay police officers a much better salary commensurate with the dangers they face. If a policeman demanded a bribe to get out of speeding in the US and their own department found out, they would put them in jail. That is not tolerated in the US. Another big problem I see in Mexico is not having a clean water system. Are you kidding? It’s almost 2024? and the water coming out of the kitchen faucet isn’t always safe to drink. There is a whole industry of purchased drinking water that is unnecessary.The salary gap in Mexico is another issue. You’ll have managers at factories making $80K per year while the low factory worker is making $2/hour and barely living. I’m not advocating for welfare help like there is too much of in the US, but a better wage like $5-7/hour in Mexico would go a long way to improve the economy and keep people from migrating the US to send money home. I would love to see Mexico improve for all my friends and family there. Ambassador Sarukhan, I think we would get along. I would love to have a conversation with you if that were ever possible. I’m sure I would learn a lot from you.
I’ll be brief. I live part time in México and I believe that I need to restrain myself. Chicago is quite corrupt and a lawyer I used to work with explained that to me from his professional experience. In San Diego County land use is as corrupt as anything in México. The U.S.A. Federal government is quite corrupted by corporations and the wealthy. Humans are only humans. I know a lawyer documentary-maker in México who loves AMLO but my the patriarch of a chicano family here hates him and my elderly Spanish teacher (who hates Trump) calls him a communist. BTW, a major issue here is the agua de caca from Tijuana washing up along Imperial Beach and Coronado via the Tijuana “River” and the decrepit Tijuana outfall (via a so-called sewage-treatment plant) to complement the outdated advanced-primary undertreatment at the Point Loma plant. Lastly, in about 2008 (when I last lived in an home with a TV) I saw on the “university channel) via U.C.S.D. some economist type explaining the logic (compelling to me) of moving investments from controversial Asia to México. I remind all that humans have lived here for 130,000 years and that Native Americans, likely not the originals from way back, owned the Americas before imposition, theft, and consent from/to Europeans and, thus, we should respect the peoples of the Americas rather than treat them as refugees or livestock; this is not a criticism of you, sir, but another reason to transfer investment from Asia to Americas. I agree that the cartel and economic equality problems need to be seriously addressed. And, we up here need to own up to our flawed country who suffered, in AMLO’s words, a “state assassination” of J.F.K.
What a mouthpiece for failed US foreign policy. As anyone who makes the effort to understand the causes of the war knows, Russia was goaded into conflict with Ukraine. But rather than promote peace and understanding, the Ex Ambassador parrots White House press releases. I hope MND takes this into consideration in the event he tries to whip Mexico into servility in the future.
So according to the author of this opinion, the U.S.”rules-based international order’ is a good thing. As I look at this world I don’t see the good things their order has brought. It has brought wars constantly since WWII, most of which the U.S. directly or indirectly caused. It has made a mockery of the end of the Cold War, which should have brought peace and prosperity to this planet. Instead, the U.S. immediately started arming themselves massively and created enemies out of any country who dared to elect a leftist government. This author has Russophobia and calls their actions in Ukraine “aggression”. This is baseless . NATO has encircled Russia by gobbling up countries surrounding it to the constant objections of Russia since it is a security threat to them. Why was an enemy created out of Russia? What went on in the Donbass after 2014 and the Minsk agreements? The West admitted they never intended to abide by them! Who is the real aggressor when the U.S. has 800 military bases girdling the world? Hamas is the terrorist? Who are the people who have been forced to live in a place , the most crowded on Earth, where they are not allowed to leave, and have for generations suffered deaths and humiliation, their lands confiscated? Who are their oppressors? The UN has declared Israel an apartheid nation. The head of the UN Human Rights Commission just resigned over the genocide Israel is carrying out on the Palestinians. Any country supporting this is complicit in war crimes. As for Obrador, I am glad he is doing such a good job as President.
You’d make a typical criminal defense attorney. I see your take on the ink blot, but don’t the errors one party justify or sanitize those of another. “Old Man Dave”, a then elderly big-time marijuana trafficker told me about the collapse of the Soviet Union that Reagan’s Administration bled the Soviet Union to death; he seemed to be involved with the criminal element that passed for government here then and that contradicts your position that the U.S.A. has recently started its military binge. And, then there was the warning of the military industrial complex by President Eisenhower who probably predated you but not me. Keep denying atrocities by Puto and hamas and cement your own complicity.
Hear! Hear! Well said and it reflects a perdpective of many wordly, well travelled and conscious citizens.
The current president is an inceterate potloian and after 40 years of conflict prior to his presidebtial victoty, his dynamic remains the same. He has ousted tecnicrats, replacing them all with wannabe political hounds and while the economy. Grosso modo, has increased, the internal corruption has becone systemic and surreal both in presumption and cists. Little has improved admibistratively, much has degraded and they could or would not perform basic engineering studies to assure a better maya train, and disregarded the global promise to care for the Calakmul biosphere. Hr has ideas, dies not study nor consider them carefully, and continues to act in a totalitarian fashion as he disparages every one else in the world, exceot other totalitarians…it seems all to clear to me.
I appreciate very much the Ambassador’s article and thoughtful commentors above. At age 80 I’ve finally executed a will and am getting ready to depart this earth, but since the age of internet information began I have been desperately seeking the truth about what has really been going on in this world, i.e., reality.
It quickly became obvious that I would have to eliminate the newspaper as pure propaganda, and later, the TV when the U.S. television told us they couldn’t tell us the other side of the Lebanon war story “because of their Israeli censors”.
Most of the Ambassador’s observations are spot on, except perhaps when it comes to what he worries about most, the international perspective. He may have missed the part about weather manipulation, which is ongoing, and probably involved in the recent storm intensification in Acapulco. He probably also missed what Sherman Skolnick used to write about, that Eisenhower’s favorite golf partner (handler) was Prescott Bush, thus bringing into perspective the Nazi/British royalty ties that have reverberated down thru the neocon influenced US presidential administrations until they lost a good deal of their control when Hillary was defeated in 2016. Thus the incredible globalist vs nationalist show that is being played out in D.C. and the US and world right now.
It looks like the people are awakening, learning, and arising to the point they may regain control of their governments. It’s a battle for survival because the globalist alternative is unfathomable.
Meanwhile, I keep fighting the battle of life to continue on right now because I want to know how this movie ends before departing.