Mexico Puts Trump on the Defensive
“The Mexican President has been unceasingly active, touring the country every weekend with extraordinary energy and intensity, supervising and inaugurating hospitals, schools, universities, roads, railways and public works of all kinds.”
By David Raby
The combination of clear and firm defence of national sovereignty with intense diplomatic engagement, an ambitious economic development plan, unceasing pursuit of social justice and public investment in infrastructure has given Mexico unparalleled success in dealing with the provocative and unpredictable Trump administration. The latest remarkable achievement was announced on 1 May by President Claudia Sheinbaum and Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard: automobile components exported by Mexico to the US will face zero tariffs.
They had already obtained assurance from the US that (with the exception of steel and aluminium which are subject to Trump’s global tariffs) most Mexican exports would still be covered by the USMCA Trade Agreement, but there was doubt about vehicle components because of the complexity of rules of origin, with many being produced by third-party enterprises.
Sovereignty is inviolable
This announcement followed an unscheduled phone conversation between the two Presidents on 30 April, a conversation requested by Trump. It seems that once again the US leader, responding to pressure from right-wing Republicans, was proposing to provide “assistance” against the cartels by sending the military across the border; but Sheinbaum as always declared that this was unacceptable, Mexican sovereignty was inviolable, US forces would never be allowed on Mexican soil, and there could be collaboration but not subordination.
Trump has had to accept this, although as usual he puts his own spin on it, declaring in an interview a few days later that “The President of Mexico is a lovely woman, but she’s so afraid of the cartels she can’t even think straight”. Sheinbaum, with characteristic restraint, said in her press conference the next day that her phone conversations with Trump were respectful and productive and she would not engage in a media exchange.
On the other hand Sheinbaum repeated the Mexican demand for the US to take action to prevent illegal arms sales to the cartels, and Trump has responded by ordering a ban on such sales. Moreover, the agreement to suspend all tariffs on Mexican vehicle components reflects pressure from the domestic auto industry as well as Mexican negotiating skill.
The Mexican economy is remarkably robust: the latest figures show a drop of 0.3% in US GDP in the previous trimester, but 0.2% growth for Mexico. The peso, which fell to a low of 22 to the dollar following Trump’s initial tariff threats, has recovered to 19.7 to the dollar. Transnational companies have been lining up to announce new investments in Mexico, the latest being Unilever. “Plan Mexico” has inspired both domestic and international confidence and offers better prospects than north of the border where an unpredictable occupant of the White House seems intent on antagonising friend and foe alike. Most companies seem to have no problem in accepting Claudia Sheinbaum’s emphasis on social welfare and her insistence that the public interest must come first when they can see that the result is a stable and expanding economy with favourable conditions.
The Transformation in action
At the same time the Mexican President has been unceasingly active touring the country every weekend with extraordinary energy and intensity, supervising and inaugurating hospitals, schools, universities, roads, railways and public works of all kinds. Continuing the pattern established by AMLO, she holds almost incessant public meetings along with cabinet members and other federal and local officials to explain policies in detail and repeat the basic principles of the 4T Transformation, or “Mexican Humanism”: “For the good of all, first the poor”; “there cannot be a rich government with a poor people”; “with the people, everything; with out the people, nothing”; “no lies, no stealing, never betray the people”.
The impact of the 4T and of Claudia was dramatically demonstrated on 3 May at the inauguration of a hospital in Atenco, Mexico State, on the 19th anniversary of the brutal repression of protestors against the proposal to build a new airport on ecologically sensitive community lands bordering Lake Texcoco. On that date in 2006 police and troops, on orders from federal, state and municipal authorities, opened fire on peaceful protestors killing more than 40 and arresting more than 200. At the hospital inauguration a keynote speech was given by a veteran of the grassroots movement “People’s Front in Defence of the Land”, and President Sheinbaum and all the federal ministers and officials on the platform wore the red kerchief of the People’s Front. The radical significance of today’s Transformation was plain for all to see.
The judicial elections
Meanwhile a crucial event is fast approaching, the elections on 1 June of judges, magistrates and justices (“ministers”) of the Supreme Court. Mexico will become the only country in the world to elect all judicial officials (in the US judges are elected in many states, but not all, and not the Supreme Court). This was established by a constitutional reform proposed by AMLO and passed by the Mexican Congress after Claudia Sheinbaum took office; it was generally regarded as essential to end the profound corruption of many judges, including most Supreme Court justices who had systematically sabotaged many of AMLO’s progressive laws and also granted injunctions protecting notorious criminals.
Candidates for the judicial elections must have legal training and experience. They cannot run for political parties, which must not intervene in the electoral process. Public officials in the executive and legislative branches of government at all levels must not participate in the process other than to publicise the elections as such and urge people to vote (without mentioning individual candidates). The importance of these elections is shown by the constant hostility of the opposition to the whole idea, and continued attempts at sabotage by those corrupt judges who are still in office.
Improved security
Finally, a word is in order about crime and security as such. Mainstream media and US politicians from Trump downwards continue to harp on cartel violence in Mexico, but the fact is that criminality was beginning to decline under AMLO and this decline has accelerated under Sheinbaum. Homicides have been reduced by 20% and kidnappings by 80%.
Especially in the seven months since Claudia Sheinbaum took office, her Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch has been extremely effective, working with the Interior Ministry, the Solicitor General, Military and National Guard: on 8 April he reported that since 1 October 2024 there had been 17,258 arrests for serious crimes, 140 tons of illicit drugs had been seized including the biggest seizure of fentanyl ever, 9,666 weapons had been decommissioned (74% of them illegally smuggled from the US), and 750 drug labs had been shut down. Several cartels have suffered their greatest losses ever, and this success has been recognised by US officials.
- David Raby is a retired academic, writer and journalist in solidarity with progressive movements and governments in Latin America, and coordinator of the Mexico Solidarity Forum.
- David recently published “Mexico In Transformation: From AMLO to Claudia”, you can follow him on Twitter here.
- If you support Labour Outlook’s work amplifying the voices of left movements and struggles here and internationally, please consider becoming a supporter on Patreon.
“The Mexican President has been unceasingly active, touring the country every weekend with extraordinary energy and intensity, supervising and inaugurating hospitals, schools, universities, roads, railways and public works of all kinds.”
By David Raby
The combination of clear and firm defence of national sovereignty with intense diplomatic engagement, an ambitious economic development plan, unceasing pursuit of social justice and public investment in infrastructure has given Mexico unparalleled success in dealing with the provocative and unpredictable Trump administration. The latest remarkable achievement was announced on 1 May by President Claudia Sheinbaum and Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard: automobile components exported by Mexico to the US will face zero tariffs.
They had already obtained assurance from the US that (with the exception of steel and aluminium which are subject to Trump’s global tariffs) most Mexican exports would still be covered by the USMCA Trade Agreement, but there was doubt about vehicle components because of the complexity of rules of origin, with many being produced by third-party enterprises.
Sovereignty is inviolable
This announcement followed an unscheduled phone conversation between the two Presidents on 30 April, a conversation requested by Trump. It seems that once again the US leader, responding to pressure from right-wing Republicans, was proposing to provide “assistance” against the cartels by sending the military across the border; but Sheinbaum as always declared that this was unacceptable, Mexican sovereignty was inviolable, US forces would never be allowed on Mexican soil, and there could be collaboration but not subordination.
Trump has had to accept this, although as usual he puts his own spin on it, declaring in an interview a few days later that “The President of Mexico is a lovely woman, but she’s so afraid of the cartels she can’t even think straight”. Sheinbaum, with characteristic restraint, said in her press conference the next day that her phone conversations with Trump were respectful and productive and she would not engage in a media exchange.
On the other hand Sheinbaum repeated the Mexican demand for the US to take action to prevent illegal arms sales to the cartels, and Trump has responded by ordering a ban on such sales. Moreover, the agreement to suspend all tariffs on Mexican vehicle components reflects pressure from the domestic auto industry as well as Mexican negotiating skill.
The Mexican economy is remarkably robust: the latest figures show a drop of 0.3% in US GDP in the previous trimester, but 0.2% growth for Mexico. The peso, which fell to a low of 22 to the dollar following Trump’s initial tariff threats, has recovered to 19.7 to the dollar. Transnational companies have been lining up to announce new investments in Mexico, the latest being Unilever. “Plan Mexico” has inspired both domestic and international confidence and offers better prospects than north of the border where an unpredictable occupant of the White House seems intent on antagonising friend and foe alike. Most companies seem to have no problem in accepting Claudia Sheinbaum’s emphasis on social welfare and her insistence that the public interest must come first when they can see that the result is a stable and expanding economy with favourable conditions.
The Transformation in action
At the same time the Mexican President has been unceasingly active touring the country every weekend with extraordinary energy and intensity, supervising and inaugurating hospitals, schools, universities, roads, railways and public works of all kinds. Continuing the pattern established by AMLO, she holds almost incessant public meetings along with cabinet members and other federal and local officials to explain policies in detail and repeat the basic principles of the 4T Transformation, or “Mexican Humanism”: “For the good of all, first the poor”; “there cannot be a rich government with a poor people”; “with the people, everything; with out the people, nothing”; “no lies, no stealing, never betray the people”.
The impact of the 4T and of Claudia was dramatically demonstrated on 3 May at the inauguration of a hospital in Atenco, Mexico State, on the 19th anniversary of the brutal repression of protestors against the proposal to build a new airport on ecologically sensitive community lands bordering Lake Texcoco. On that date in 2006 police and troops, on orders from federal, state and municipal authorities, opened fire on peaceful protestors killing more than 40 and arresting more than 200. At the hospital inauguration a keynote speech was given by a veteran of the grassroots movement “People’s Front in Defence of the Land”, and President Sheinbaum and all the federal ministers and officials on the platform wore the red kerchief of the People’s Front. The radical significance of today’s Transformation was plain for all to see.
The judicial elections
Meanwhile a crucial event is fast approaching, the elections on 1 June of judges, magistrates and justices (“ministers”) of the Supreme Court. Mexico will become the only country in the world to elect all judicial officials (in the US judges are elected in many states, but not all, and not the Supreme Court). This was established by a constitutional reform proposed by AMLO and passed by the Mexican Congress after Claudia Sheinbaum took office; it was generally regarded as essential to end the profound corruption of many judges, including most Supreme Court justices who had systematically sabotaged many of AMLO’s progressive laws and also granted injunctions protecting notorious criminals.
Candidates for the judicial elections must have legal training and experience. They cannot run for political parties, which must not intervene in the electoral process. Public officials in the executive and legislative branches of government at all levels must not participate in the process other than to publicise the elections as such and urge people to vote (without mentioning individual candidates). The importance of these elections is shown by the constant hostility of the opposition to the whole idea, and continued attempts at sabotage by those corrupt judges who are still in office.
Improved security
Finally, a word is in order about crime and security as such. Mainstream media and US politicians from Trump downwards continue to harp on cartel violence in Mexico, but the fact is that criminality was beginning to decline under AMLO and this decline has accelerated under Sheinbaum. Homicides have been reduced by 20% and kidnappings by 80%.
Especially in the seven months since Claudia Sheinbaum took office, her Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch has been extremely effective, working with the Interior Ministry, the Solicitor General, Military and National Guard: on 8 April he reported that since 1 October 2024 there had been 17,258 arrests for serious crimes, 140 tons of illicit drugs had been seized including the biggest seizure of fentanyl ever, 9,666 weapons had been decommissioned (74% of them illegally smuggled from the US), and 750 drug labs had been shut down. Several cartels have suffered their greatest losses ever, and this success has been recognised by US officials.
- David Raby is a retired academic, writer and journalist in solidarity with progressive movements and governments in Latin America, and coordinator of the Mexico Solidarity Forum.
- David recently published “Mexico In Transformation: From AMLO to Claudia”, you can follow him on Twitter here.
- If you support Labour Outlook’s work amplifying the voices of left movements and struggles here and internationally, please consider becoming a supporter on Patreon.
No comments:
Post a Comment