Mexico City, Dec. 26 Mexico has played at various moments in foreign policy in 2022, among which the “pause” in relations with Spain, the failure of the Pacific Alliance summit, the institutional visit to the White House or the passivity in the face of the Russian invasion stood out. from Ukraine.

These are the eight short stories that have defined Mexico’s foreign policy over the past year.

1-LÓPEZ OBRADOR INSISTS ON “BREAK” WITH SPAIN

Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador proposed in February to put diplomatic relations with Spain on “pause” so that they would stop seeing it as a “land of conquest”, although this does not imply a real severing of the ties between the two countries.

After the Spanish government considered the pothole overcome and even participated in the Spain-Mexico Binational Commission in December, the president insisted on continuing the break due to lack of respect for the Iberian country and accused the king, Felipe VI, not to respond. to a letter

2-NON-HOLDING OF THE PACIFIC SUMMIT

The summit of the Pacific Alliance, an organization made up of Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru, was to be held in November in the western state of Oxaca, but was moved to Mexico City and then the option to hold it in Lima was considered and ended up being suspended.

The banning of Peru’s former president, Pedro Castillo, from leaving his country, as well as his dismissal and detention, made impossible the meeting of Latin American leaders, during which Mexico was to hand over the temporary presidency to the Andean country.

3-LOPEZ OBRADOR VISITS THE WHITE HOUSE…

Unaccustomed to making official trips outside Mexico, López Obrador made an exception to visit Joe Biden at the White House in July, where he asked his counterpart to expand the temporary work visa program for migrants. Mexicans and Central Americans.

It was the first time the neighboring leaders had seen each other, after López Obrador refused to attend the Summit of the Americas held in Los Angeles in June to protest the absence of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

4- … AND THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE UNITED STATES AT 200 YEARS

Mexico and the United States commemorated in December the bicentenary of their bilateral diplomatic relations, which include issues such as the fight against crime, migration, trade and energy transition among their priorities.

The coming year will also be important for relations between neighboring countries and will begin with the celebration of the Summit of North American Leaders between Mexico, the United States and Canada, which will take place next January in the Mexican capital and will be Joe Good’s first visit to Mexico.

5-SUPPORT FOR THE FORMER PRESIDENT OF PERU

Since Pedro Castillo carried out a coup and was subsequently arrested, removed from office and imprisoned, López Obrador has not stopped supporting him. The ex-president’s family has been granted political asylum in Mexico and the government is taking steps to welcome Castillo as well.

In addition, the Mexican president has repeatedly called for respect for Castillo’s legislature, refused to recognize Peru’s new president, Dina Boluarte, and called for presidential and legislative elections.

The new Peruvian government felt that López Obrador maintained an interventionist position and ended up expelling the Mexican ambassador in Lima, Pablo Monroy.

6-THE NEW LATIN AMERICAN LEFT

Throughout 2022, the Mexican president celebrated the electoral victories of Gustavo Petro in Colombia and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil, with whom he is in tune. The first traveled to Mexico City in November, while the second, who will take office on January 1, did not travel despite his invitation.

Adding to the equation Gabriel Boric in Chile, Alberto Fernández in Argentina, Guillermo Lasso in Ecuador or the ousted Pedro Castillo in Peru, López Obrador tried to create a new progressive axis in Latin America and tried to become its promoter by bringing together several of these leaders from the Mexican capital.

7-DISTANCE FROM THE INVASION OF UKRAINE

Unlike many countries in the world, the Mexican government faced the Russian invasion of Ukraine with a certain passivity, without imposing economic reprisals on Russia and relying on dialogue and mediation to stop the war. .

Despite the tens of thousands of miles separating the conflict zone from Mexican territory, Russian and Ukrainian refugees seeking to enter the United States have arrived at the northern border.

8- CAPITAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONVERSATIONS

In November, the Mexican capital hosted the dialogue table between the Venezuelan government and the opposition, who signed the second partial agreement for the protection of the Venezuelan people, whose main objective was the recovery of the money deposited in blocked accounts.

Mexico will also host next January the second round of negotiations between the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas, during which a ceasefire will likely be discussed. EFE

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