A key initial step for President Sheinbaum is to move past any reactive approach to U.S. actions

The election in the United States and the new era will force President Claudia Sheinbaum to reimagine the bilateral relationship

From now on the game changes. The election in the United States and the new era will force President Claudia Sheinbaum to reimagine the bilateral relationship. It was her turn. Such a profound change that may come with the new US government had not even touched Carlos Salinas de Gortari when he negotiated the first North American Free Trade Agreement. Now it is a different game, which includes migration and security.

A first step is that the President must leave behind any reactive stance to the actions taken by the United States. Yesterday, for example, she pointed out that as soon as the electoral college qualifies the presidential election there, her government will explain everything that Mexico has done to fight fentanyl. But that position, which may be appropriate, will be reduced to something anecdotal given the size of the challenge ahead: reinventing North America.

There are three key actions that Sheinbaum has to organize for Mexico to succeed in the face of the new American reality: (1) Invest in lobbying in Washington, to increase the national positioning in the face of the upcoming tariff policies and the fight against migration and Mexican organized crime; (2) Strengthen the team of Marcelo Ebrard and Juan Ramón de la Fuente. Both will be the visible head of the national positions. She must let them be seen, strengthen their profile and allow them to have resources and an open letter to negotiate when they sit down to talk with the United States; and (3) Create a strategic idea for the next 30 years for North America. This is the moment when Mexico must propose customs integration; total labor mobility; and other initiatives of profound significance. The President will lose a lot if she does not take a step forward after the US electoral process. Yesterday she said that the meetings she plans to propose to the US are so that “what Mexico has done is known” because she is “convinced that there will be a good relationship.” That is fine; but now she must propose the next level of the relationship. We will see.

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