Amid rising diplomatic tensions with the US, Mexico’s diplomatic and economic relations with China appear to be going from strength to strength.
Before we get to the meat of this story, a quick primer on where relations between the US and Mexico currently stand.
Over the past few years, Mexico has clashed repeatedly with the US over a litany of issues, from USAID and NED’s funding of domestic political opposition groups to Washington’s attempts to prevent Mexico from banning GMO corn for human consumption; to Mexico’s refusal to support project Ukraine or US-EU sanctions against Russia despite concerted pressure; to presidential candidate Donald Trump’s threats to send kill teams to Mexico to take out the country’s drug kingpins — a threat that should not be taken lightly given US-Mexican history.
The irony is that as tensions have risen between the two neighbours, business has never been better. Due to changing global trade patterns and nearshoring strategies, Mexico has become the US’ biggest trading partner, as the volume of goods the US buys from its southern neighbour has surged past those of China and Canada. Exports to the US from Mexico have increased 20 percent-plus annually between 2020 and mid-2024 while exports from China have steadily fallen, according to data cited by CNBC.
End of an Era
At the end of this month, Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (aka AMLO) will leave politics, at least officially speaking. In Mexico, presidents are limited to a single six-year term in office, called the sexenio, and AMLO’s is due to expire on September 30. In October, he will depart for his Tabasco ranch, “La Chingada“, with approval ratings of up to 76%. He has also secured legislative approval for his judicial reform package, which opens the way to sweeping constitutional reforms on energy, mining, housing, labour and indigenous rights, among other things.
This has all happened despite constant US meddling in Mexico’s political affairs over the past half year. As readers may recall, the US Drug Enforcement Agency interfered directly in Mexico’s general elections by spreading unsubstantiated claims across Western media that AMLO’s 2006 electoral campaign had been part-financed by the Sinaloa drug cartel. As we reported at the time, the DEA is still smarting at the strict limits AMLO’s 2020 National Security Law imposed on the actions of foreign intelligence agencies like itself on Mexican soil.
Then, a few weeks ago, the US and Canadian Ambassadors warned that Mexico’s proposed judicial reforms, which include the direct election of judges — something that already happens in many US states — could have dire consequences for the US-MCA trade agreement. AMLO’s response was to: a) ignore the threats; and b) put Mexico’s relations with the two ambassadors on hold.
At roughly the same time, the DEA kidnapped Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a long-elusive Sinaloa cartel capo, and shipped him to the US to face trial. According to the Mexican journalist Anabel Hernández, who has been accusing AMLO of ties to drug cartels for months, the US wants Zambada to rat out “a president of Mexico.” It’s not hard to guess which one. Even in this year of 2024, Washington continues to use the War on Drugs as a means of toppling or even extraditing and incarcerating Latin American leaders or military figures.
In last Thursday’s morning press conference, a visibly rankled AMLO accused the US government of acting unilaterally in seizing Zambada and of infringing Mexican sovereignty in the process. He also blamed the DEA for creating a power vacuum in Sinaloa and the all-too-predictable explosion of gang violence that has followed in its wake. The agency, AMLO said, had kicked over a hornet’s nest. He then asked a question many have been asking for years, if not decades:
Where are the US’ drug cartels?
“How are all these drugs distributed” once they reach the US, AMLO asked. “How is it that we never hear of the US’ famous cartels and capos? We never know who they arrest (on their side of the border)? That information never reaches us.”
Mexico-China Relations
Amid diplomatic tensions with the US, Mexico’s diplomatic and economic relations with China appear to be going from strength to strength.
When the DEA accused AMLO of receiving cartel money a few months back, Mexico’s president responded by holding a two-and-a-half hour meeting with the Chinese ambassador. In that meeting, AMLO expressed his gratitude to Beijing for its support during difficult times for the country, such as the category 5 hurricane that devastated Acapulco in late October as well as all the material aid Beijing sent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Just a few weeks ago, the Chinese government urged the US to give up its antiquated Monroe Doctrine, as Washington intensifies its meddling in Mexico, Venezuela and Honduras. In reply to a question from Global Times, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said:
China firmly supports the just position of Latin American countries on opposing foreign interference and safeguarding their nations’ sovereignty. The US should not turn a deaf ear to the legitimate concerns… of Latin American countries… We urge the US to discard the outdated Monroe Doctrine…, stop its unilateral actions of bullying, coercion, sanctions and blockades, and develop… mutually beneficial cooperation with regional countries based on mutual respect, equality and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs.
“Non-interference in each other’s internal affairs” is a notion that no doubt appeals to a country like Mexico that has suffered multiple US and European military incursions and invasions since gaining independence from Spain in 1810. Mexico City is even home to a National Museum of Interventions, which I visited a couple of weeks ago. Housed in the former Monastery of San Diego Churubusco, which was used as a makeshift fort during the US army’s invasion of Mexico City in 1847, the museum offers a fascinating trip down a dark collective memory lane.
On its walls are maps of the Mexico that existed before the US invaded and seized possession of over half the country’s territory between 1846-8. Among the many episodes of history recounted is that of the San Patricios, a military unit in the US army consisting of hundreds of immigrants of Irish and German Catholic stock who defected en masse to the Mexican army during the US invasion. After fighting with distinction in numerous battles, most of the San Patricios perished or were captured during the Battle of Churubusco. Many of those who were captured were tortured and executed as traitors.
This is a story that is little known even in Mexico though it is widely commemorated. In the US it is, presumably, forgotten history. The victors of Colonial wars and their descendants have the luxury to forget the crimes of the past; the losers far less so. On the contrary, they have a responsibility to remember…
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Nick Corbishley 