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Amlo’s Mexico asserts itself against a declining US

The US has had to accept a wave of progressive governments without intervention in what it once saw as its ‘back yard’ – now Mexico can stand tall on immigration, its economy and against US gun manufacturers, reports DAVID RABY

NO-ONE outside Colombia could have been more delighted by the progressive election victory there than Mexico’s President Amlo, who was the first to congratulate victorious candidate Gustavo Petro.

This historic victory in Latin America’s third most populous country is a crucial advance for the Mexican agenda of real democracy, social justice and regional integration.

Coming on the back of the farcical Los Angeles “Latin American summit” where many leaders, including Amlo, were absent in protest at the US exclusion of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, this could be seen as another reverse for Washington.

Amlo doesn’t mince words — while opposing the Russian invasion of Ukraine (in line with Mexico’s tradition of non-intervention), his comments on US and European policy on Ukraine are quite caustic: “We’ll provide the weapons, you provide the dead and wounded. It’s immoral!”

In addition, Amlo has just reiterated Mexico’s support for Julian Assange and the offer to grant him asylum.

But Amlo, like Petro in Colombia, wants good relations with the US — and talks of hemispheric co-operation based on sovereignty and mutual respect.

While they both want fundamental change, they don’t want confrontation and realise that the declining superpower to the north must be pushed and cajoled to accept a changing reality.

Amlo shows a genuine understanding of US politics and has arranged to travel to Washington on July 12 for talks with US President Joe Biden on a range of issues.

How does he maintain dialogue despite his sometimes vitriolic criticism? He continues to promote constructive and co-operative policies on migration and trade, openly expressing an understanding of Biden’s domestic political difficulties and repeating that he regards the US president as “a good person.”

While insisting on the need to end blockades and sanctions, he identifies the real obstacles to change as lying in the Republican Party but also some of the Democrats, naming Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio (Republican) but also Bob Menendez (Democrat) as key actors.

Amlo clearly understands that these and other conservative US politicians are the major obstacle to progressive reforms on migration, an issue on which he has repeatedly held constructive talks with the Biden administration, but with few concrete results.

He insists on the need for a concerted plan for organised migration, facilitating visas (both permanent and temporary) for Mexicans and Central Americans.

He realises this is difficult because of the “anti-immigrant dogmas” of many US politicians, but the fact is that “they lack a labour force” and it is no solution to “traffic in human needs” by preventing legal entry.

He repeats Mexico’s belief in development assistance for Central America, prioritising human needs (as already implemented by Mexico within its limited capacity) and Washington’s unfulfilled promise to provide $4 billion to expand such aid.

The recent tragedy of migrants killed in a truck in Texas only emphasises the urgency of this.

On trade and the economy, Amlo has also begun to implement an anti-inflation plan which is more effective than anything yet undertaken by Washington.

By promoting energy self-sufficiency he has been able to control petrol and diesel prices which are lower then in neighbouring US states, and also regulate domestic gas and electricity prices; Mexico has the lowest energy price inflation of all 30 OECD member countries.

Similarly in agriculture he is promoting self-sufficiency through subsidised fertiliser supplies and support schemes for small farmers, and negotiating agreements with supermarkets to limit prices of basic staples.

Big business has gone along with these interventionist policies because they are clearly helping to stave off recession.

Judicial collaboration is another key area of co-operation with the US: more and more political corruption cases reveal cross-border criminal links, and Mexico is actively pursuing its legal action against US gun manufacturers for criminal liability.

Here again Mexico’s priorities ties in with the Biden administration’s agenda on gun control.

Similarly with women’s rights and abortion: Mexico’s Supreme Court recently decriminalised abortion, and although the situation still varies from state to state since Mexico has a federal constitution like the US, access is now much easier than in many US jurisdictions.

Thus it is clear that on many issues Biden’s agenda coincides with Amlo’s, and while being a hostage to the political stalemate in Washington, he cannot afford to ignore the Mexican president.

Within the diplomatic limits imposed by the protocol of non-intervention, both are discreetly involved in their neighbour’s political processes.

Regarding regional integration, there is little doubt that the Biden administration realises that it has no alternative but to work with the new progressive governments in Latin America: this is why it has not taken action against Amlo despite his stinging criticism of many US policies, and has not prevented or undermined progressive election victories in Peru, Chile, Honduras and now Colombia.

A weak figurehead of a declining superpower, Biden cannot openly accept the multipolar world which is fast emerging, hence his pernicious confrontation with Russia and China — but he knows that if the US is to retain any influence outside Nato and a few Asia-Pacific bastions like Japan and Australia, it has to make real concessions to Latin American and Caribbean autonomy.

David Raby is a retired academic and independent researcher on Latin America — Twitter @DLRaby.

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