Success of Mexico's Foreign Policy Depends on Changes in Its Domestic Policy Rene Delgado - Reforma
go to original May 11, 2016

For Mexico, the two virtual candidates for President of the United States translate to political pressure; pressure both during and after the campaign. And Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration will be easy prey if it does not close and correct, by its own free will and as soon as possible, the two fronts that give rise to criticism from Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton: Mexican criminal impunity and political timidity.

Beyond Trump’s rude reference to Mexicans being criminals or rapists and Clinton’s diplomatic concern over the disrespect of human rights in Mexico, at the core of their accusations is the absence of the rule of law here. What passes today as campaign propaganda will be government policy tomorrow. Neither one of them will be able to avoid a commitment to strengthening their position on Mexico and, of course, taking advantage of it.

Despite the obvious crisis of the country's relationship with the U.S. and the multilateral organizations - both continental and international - the reaction from Peña Nieto’s administration is not only limited, but also wrong. It reduces the problem to a matter of perception and image, and, with incomprehension, it expects to fix it with a cosmetic action: modify the image of the object, without reforming the object.

Today, Mexican foreign policy depends on domestic policy. That pipe dream of divorcing the two is untenable. If our domestic policy is not improved, then little can be done for our foreign policy. But what makes the matter serious is that the more time passes without understanding the extent of the problem, the more the possibility to solve it here and maintain any sovereignty is lost.

From the perspective of the deterioration of Mexico's image abroad, the solution seems simple. But it isn’t. Improving domestic policy means a shakeup with overtones of a rupture and, as needed, a betrayal of the understanding - if not, complicity - of what the Mexican political class has become. However, insisting on the idea of ??keeping things the way they are will only result in a greater domestic breakdown of the country and a greater weakening internationally or, better said, a greater loss of sovereignty.

Read the rest at Mexico Voices

Related: What Will November's US Elections Bring for Mexico? (SocialistWorker.org)

Translated by Amanda Coe

Mexico Voices is a blogging endeavor aimed at raising the awareness of U.S. citizens regarding the destructive impact of the U.S. economic policy and the War on Drugs on Mexico  -  on its people, their economic and physical security and their human rights, on the nation’s dysfunctional justice system, and on the rule of law and Mexico’s fragile democracy. Visit the website at MexicoVoices.blogspot.mx

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