MEXICO

Mexico and the World

Mexico's foreign relations have always been heavily molded by its complex relationship with the United States. In the political turmoil of the nineteenth century, Mexico lost half of its territory to an expanding United States. Indeed, Mexico's humiliation at the hands of the U.S. has been a major theme in the Mexican psyche. Even Porfirio D’az, whose dictatorship promoted closer ties to the U.S., is reported to have lamented, "Poor Mexico! So far from God and so close to the United States." One goal of the Mexican Revolution, and the aim of much of its official rhetoric, was to restore the sovereignty and power of Mexico on the global stage. The PRI leadership clearly sought a system that would restore stability to the Mexican system and prevent future attacks on Mexican sovereignty. In the early years of the Mexican Revolution, foreign economic interests were sharply curtailed and foreign oil companies were nationalized. Mexico under the PRI began to assert itself as an independent and autonomous state, gradually gaining the status of a regional power within Latin America.

During and after World War II, Mexico became a closer ally of the United States while still asserting an independent voice in its foreign policy. From the 1960s to the 1980s Mexico opposed U.S. foreign policy in Latin America, fostered a close relationship with Fidel Castro's Cuba (a U.S. arch enemy), and supported revolutionary movements in the region that often opposed the United States.

Many Mexicans were proud that their country could act so independently of the United States in the arena of foreign policy. The economic catastrophe of the 1980s and Mexico's decision to abandon revolutionary economic policies and liberalize its economy made clear the limits to Mexican independence in its foreign affairs. In exchange for massive economic aid in the 1980s, Mexico was pressured to curtail its opposition to U.S. foreign policy in Latin America.

Since the election of Vicente Fox in 2000, Mexico has moved closer to the United States on most foreign-policy issues. ¹ Fox has sought to work closely with Bush in hopes of gaining new agreements on immigration and trade. Since the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, Mexico's increased economic dependence on the United States has clearly limited its international assertiveness.

Mexico today is clearly at a crossroads. With its first democratically elected president in decades, and with a booming economy based on exports to the United States, Mexicans can feel proud of their accomplishments. At the same time, now that Mexico has vanquished authoritarian rule, it must now deal with a number of historical problems. Mexico must find a way to reestablish the legitimacy of the state (by reducing corruption), to restore public order (by reducing crime and improving the judiciary), and perhaps most important, to address the growing inequality between the winners and the losers in Mexico's political economic transition.