“President AMLO showed Mexicans that Mexico was not a subject of the American empire. He was the first president in decades to stand up to the US with dignity.”
By Maria Perez Ramos
On 20th January, Donald Trump will take office. The world stands expectant and alarmed as the threatening shadow of his administration approaches. Latin America is no exception. As president-elect, Trump has made controversial imperialist remarks. Moreover, according to Foreign Affairs, Latin America will become a priority for U.S. foreign policy.
Mexico and the U.S. share a 3,175-km border, and naturally, American politicians tend to use Mexico to scapegoat their own policy failures. Trump’s threats are not new, but they still have the power to raise tensions.
Once again, Trump announced his intention to apply tariffs on Mexican imports. In 2019, Trump threatened the Mexican government with tariffs of up to 5% on all goods crossing the border unless, unsurprisingly, Mexico controlled the influx of ‘illegal’ migrants from Central and South America. At the time, President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) called on Trump to work together to tackle the root causes of immigration. In the same year, after a cartel ambushed and killed Mexican American members of a well-known fundamentalist Mormon family, Donald Trump threatened to designate Mexican Cartels as foreign terrorist organisations. However, most of his cabinet opposed the policy and the designation plan was halted.
Trump was keen to start military operations in Mexico and wanted to convince the Mexican government to cooperate with the US – on America’s terms. One reason the cabinet gave to oppose the terrorist designation plan was that it would be beneficial for those seeking refuge in the U.S.
President AMLO showed Mexicans that Mexico was not a subject of the American empire. He was the first president in decades to stand up to the US with dignity. During his administration, AMLO denounced the abusive behaviours of US officials and called them to take accountability for their acts. For AMLO and the so-called Mexican Humanism movement, the most important tactic was to increase social to cut the numbers of cartel recruits. This policy was referred to as ‘hugs, not bullets.’ It aimed to care for vulnerable citizens instead of further marginalising them through criminalisation and negligence. However, US-backed media describe it as a crime-fuelling move. This shows both their aporophobia and their opposition to spending on social guarantees.
In 2021, after denouncing the constant flow of firearms from the US, Mexico filed a lawsuit against major US gun manufacturers for ‘facilitating the unlawful trafficking of their guns to drug cartels,’ and AMLO incessantly opposed any kind of foreign interventionism.
In June 2024, Mexico elected its first female president. Claudia Sheinbaum comes from a left-leaning Jewish family and has been an activist since she was a teenager. She continues to embrace AMLO’s stance on the defence of Mexico’s sovereignty and dignification of the Latin American peoples, often called ‘Nuestramérica’ or ‘Our America’ in recent times.
Sheimbaum addresses have found timely, respectful and forceful responses to Trump’s threats. For example, last November announced he will impose 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods unless the flow of fentanyl and migrants decreases. To this claim, Claudia Sheinbaum responded that the implementation of such tariffs would not stop the problems. ‘One tariff would be followed by another in response, and so on until we put common businesses at risk.’ Some experts believe that in the long run it would increase the prices American consumers have to pay for goods.
During her daily conference on 18th December 2024, Sheinbaum sent a message in response to the threat of mass deportations: ‘Mexico is spelt with M for migrants,’ she said to make it clear that her administration would work on policies to welcome the migrants that Trump sends to Mexican territory. In addition, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs announced the development of an app for migrants to let their families and consulates know if they think they are about to be detained in the U.S.
On 22nd December 2024, at the Turning Point conservative conference in Phoenix, Trump brought up the possibility of designating Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organisations. According to El Pais, Sheinbaum responded ‘We collaborate, we coordinate, we work together, but we will never subordinate ourselves […] Mexico is a free, sovereign, independent country and we do not accept interference. It is collaboration, it is coordination, but it is not subordination. And we are going to build peace.’ This answer shows Sheimbaum’s continuation of AMLO’s point of view on foreign intervention.
We are yet to see what the future will bring. Last week, the presidents of Honduras and Panama declared their intention to defend their sovereignty against Trump’s threats. They have a partner in Mexico.
- Maria Perez Ramos is from Mexico and recently addressed the Arise Festival online rally ‘Trump – Hands off Latin America!’ representing the Mexico Solidarity Forum. You can watch it here or listen on the Arise Festival podcast.
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