South of the border, the word is that Trump is back. The new President, Claudia Sheinbaun, issued the standard congratulatory tweet. Yet, there is a lot of confusion. Honestly, most of it is just the Mexican version of Trump Derangement Syndrome, but that’s how it is.
Let’s get a sample of “La Presidenta” and her news conference:
On Wednesday, Nov. 6, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (CSP) reassured her constituents that there is “no cause for concern” for Mexico following Tuesday’s reelection of former U.S. President Donald Trump into the Oval Office.
CSP’s words of caution come just two days after Trump threatened to levy high tariffs against Mexico, which currently stands as the United States’ number one trade partner in the world if Sheinbaum did not address the flow of drugs and migrants from Mexico to the United States.
“President Trump has already spoken out, but it is prudent to wait,” said Sheinbaum. “And to all Mexicans: there is no cause for concern; to our countrymen and women, to their families who are here, there is no cause for concern.”
“Mexico is moving forward. We are a free, independent, sovereign country, and there will be good relations with the United States, and I am convinced of that,” the Mexican federal executive continued.
To be honest, “La Presidenta” is pushing back on some of the exaggerated fears. As I’m sure she knows, President Trump has no plan to invade Mexico or intervene in any way. (By the way, U.S. military intervention is what scares the Mexican Left. They are still living with the memory of President Woodrow Wilson pushing Pancho Villa back over the Rio Grande)
My sense is that Trump wants to fix the border, i.e. human trafficking and drugs coming in. He couldn’t care less about the ongoing political crisis between the judiciary and executive south of the border. He’ll leave Mexicans to settle that.
Again, it’s the border what matters. At the same time, Trump will use tariffs to get what he wants. My prediction is that Mexico will comply and work with Trump because there is a lot of concern about violence tearing up large chunks of Mexican territory. So I wouldn’t be surprised if Mexicans force their new president to work with Mexico to control the cartels.
So the political class is freaking out over Trump. I’m not sure that Mexicans stepping over bullets feel the same way. They want action against the criminals, and Trump may be the new president’s best ally to do that.
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Sometimes I feel bad about how much contempt I have for Mexico. It’s probably unhealthy.