Details, details...

At the beginning of 2018, the then-chairman of the US Senate Subcommittee on Inter-American Affairs, Republican Marco Rubio, stated that his country would have no problem working with a left-wing leader in Mexico.

The normal view of the relationship is one dominated by US interests, plagued with bumps, where trade disputes and political-diplomatic differences overshadow a growing economic and social integration and a trade exchange that exceeds $800 billion annually.

To a greater or lesser extent, the governments of both countries strive to present a friendly face, although sometimes Mexican political rhetoric can sound dissonant, and the language used by Republicans can sound like a prelude to a declaration of war.

The fact is that, according to current considerations, "Mexico has learned, or learned during the Trump administration, that it can exert enormous influence over the United States and on issues of interest in the very multifaceted bilateral relationship between the US and Mexico by turning the migration faucet on and off," according to specialist Vanda Felbab-Brown of the Brookings Institution, referring to the importance of the migration issue in US domestic politics.

For her, the Trump administration constantly ceded any other interest for Mexico to control the (migrant) flows, and the Biden administration faced similar limitations. Now, however, the issue is at the center of the US electoral campaign, and coupled with the problem represented by drug trafficking, especially fentanyl, it becomes a poisonous cocktail.

For 75 percent of Americans, even those of Mexican origin, the border is a serious problem or a crisis.
The ups and downs of the Stock Market and the Mexican Peso in the face of divergent announcements regarding proposed judicial reforms did not help to build confidence among private investors, uncertain that a Judiciary subservient to the Executive Branch can guarantee a fair process for their interests.

The fact is that to maintain the welfare state proposed during the López Obrador government, Mexico needs more than just geographic proximity to create confidence and conditions that attract the necessary capital and promote a prosperous economy that generates the required taxes.

Therein lies the detail.

BY: JOSÉ CARREÑO FIGUERAS
JOSE.CARRENO@ELHERALDODEMEXICO.COM
@CARRENOJOSE