AMLO’s Mexico Downgraded, Part II.

“In politics, civilities are substance” Attributed to Jesús Reyes Heroles

On June 8 of last year, we published a note titled “AMLO’s Mexico Downgraded.” The subtitle was “The insignificance of the Mexican President has already infected the country.”

It was based on the State visit of the  Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris. The point was that traditionally, the Mexican President would meet with his equal ranked President of the United States, never with the Vice President. When a Vice President would visit Mexico on an official mission, he would have a courtesy visit to the President and working sessions with cabinet members.

Now, the US Government is sending a third echelon official, the Secretary of Energy, to negotiate with Mexico’s President on changes in the rules of the game in the field of energy that harm foreign corporations with investments and operations in Mexico. This represents a downgrading of the level assigned to the President of Mexico, who, if he had good advisors and if he would listen to them, would not accept such treatment. The Americans see AMLO like they used to see Chavez, Maduro, Bukele, etc., as an irrelevance, but they will not give him an excuse to victimize himself. Given the importance of Mexico, they send him notes and messages but do not give him the opportunity to confront.

Evidently, the Mexican President does not trust the ability of the Mexican Secretary of Energy, Rocio Nahle, or the Foreign Relations Secretary, Marcelo Ebrard, to negotiate with their US counterparts the terms of the energy reform currently under discussion in the Mexican Congress. It is the cost he has to pay for privileging 90% loyalty and 10% honesty instead of relying on the most capable professionals in their fields. Otherwise, the negotiations would always occur between equals, supported by their teams, as suggested in the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations letter.

The President who constantly uses the excuse of “defending the respect for the investiture” when someone tries to approach him to be heard about a problem that he does not want to hear, either does not realize what he is doing given his minimal talent for statesmanship or blatantly disregards those “formalities” as symbols of times past that are to blame for the misery of millions of Mexicans. 

Be it as it may, it is a disgrace and one more shameful and embarrassing act to add to his already catastrophic administration. It is not an offense to the Mexicans; it is only recognition of their President’s level.