Monday, November 17, 2008

 

What Obama wants in the U.S. Relationship with Mexico

 

 By J. Jesús Esquivel

 

• During his first year in office President Barack Obama will try to move an integral migratory reform forward in Congress.  He will have an advantage: Democrats will hold majorities both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, said Dan Restrepo, Obama's chief advisor on Latin American affairs.  In an interview with Proceso, he contends that now Washington will be Mexico's "positive partner" in order to resolve other problems that affect the bilateral relationship, including narcotics trafficking and the economic crisis.

 

Washington, D.C. – The Barack Obama government will have two priorities in its relationship with Mexico: security and the economy.

 

In the first case, Washington will assume the fight against narcotics trafficking with greater responsibility: it will allocate more resources, and it will be more efficient in order to diminish domestic demand for drugs.  Secondly, it will support the Mexican economy in order to get around the effects of the world economic crisis.

 

This according to Dan Restrepo, Obama's main advisor on Latin American affairs, who in an interview with Proceso announced the topics that the next U.S. president plans to establish on the bilateral agenda.

 

Although he cautioned: "Obama does not want to overestimate the relationship with Mexico.  He wants to put it in the proper context of cooperation, understanding and work that will benefit the people of the two countries."

 

He agreed that Obama does not know the priority subjects of this relationship in detail.  However he assured that, once [Obama] installs his cabinet, he wants "to work arm in arm" with the Mexican government on the economy and security.

 

Restrepo maintains that Obama is concerned, and to a degree annoyed, that the Mexican people are paying the consequences for decisions made by the government of George W. Bush in the struggle against narcotics trafficking: abandoning programs to reduce drug use, and not allotting more personnel nor economic resources in order to restrain illegal activities in the United States that help organized crime and narcotics trafficking from the other side of the southern border.

 

"Obama wants first to decrease the demand for drugs in the United States.  He is firmly determined to do that which is necessary in order to revitalize the rehabilitation programs that, we well know, work, and that unfortunately have been abandoned in recent years," he emphasized.

 

Then "we will work to inhibit the flow of weapons, cash and stolen vehicles that go from north to south across our border."  That is, Restrepo explained, "he wants to close those flows that feed narcotics trafficking," that too have caused the violent struggle of the drug cartels in Mexico for transit routes to the United States."

 

"A first step"

 

Regarding the Merida Initiative – the project through which Washington will deliver Mexico US$450 million in equipment and assistance in order to fight narcotics trafficking, Restrepo said that it is "a first step in the right direction."

 

He explained that the Obama government does not intend for that initiative to be limited to Mexico, rather "to strengthen it" and give it "a regional projection, insofar as it is clear that organized crime cannot be taken on in but one or two countries.  This must be an integral fight."

 

In Washington, Restrepo is being mentioned as a possible member of the team of advisors on Latin America of the next U.S. government, either on the White House's National Security Council or in the State Department.

 

During the interview the advisor criticized the lack of interest for Latin American countries shown by the Bush administration.  He contends that is going to change.  "The United States must once again be present in the region as a positive partner that wants to work together with Latin American governments," he emphasized.

 

And he noted that Obama – whose proposals in order to face the economic crisis were key to winning the elections of [November] 4 – believes that if the Mexican economy enjoys good health it will decrease the flow of undocumented immigrants to the United States.

 

But, he clarified, "in order to support the Mexican economy President Obama has to, first, reestablish the course of economic growth in the United States," since both countries are "tied by trade, investment, remittances and tourism."

 

However he did not delve into what concrete measures the new U.S. government can apply to support the Mexican economy.  "It is very early" for it, he said.

 

And he reiterated what Obama announced during his election campaign, that he intends to review the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada.  "The intent is to analyze the aspects that need adjustments, insofar as they could be causing economic, labor or other types of problems on the societies" of the three countries, he indicated.

 

Yet he refused to reveal which NAFTA matters will undergo "adjustments."  He said that this will be addressed as of next January 20, when Obama will officially become president.

 

Migratory reform

 

Regarding migration, Restrepo recalls that Obama "is committed to working on the subject of an integral migratory reform during his first year in office."  He maintains that the president "will seek an agreement with Congress in order to approve the reform which he wants: modern, that works, that has meaning, that respects the laws and rights of the people."

 

He noted that Obama, as president, will have an advantage: after the elections of [November] 4, Democrats are majorities both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, which will facilitate negotiations to approve a reform that would resolve the immigration status of 11 or 12 million undocumented workers.

 

"Obama wants to change the aura of the debate, that has been manipulated and rarefied by extremists; he wants to change the tone so that there can be a true debate on an earnest immigration reform," the advisor maintains.

 

On energy matters, he said that Mexico's cooperation with the United States will be "important."  However, he pointed out, this will be focused on objectives set by Obama: to change the dependency of the U.S. economy with respect to hydrocarbons, and to be more responsible with the environment.

 

However, the Barack Obama advisor did not give any opinion on the energy reform approved by the Mexican Congress last October 28.  He said that he does not know the details or its eventual effects on the bilateral relationship.

 

On the other hand, Restrepo went on at length regarding foreign policy.  He said that Obama sees in Mexico an ally that can help the United States to regain relationships with other countries that the Bush administration damaged or simply abandoned. 

 

He clarified that it should occur in a framework of multilateralism, particularly in the United Nations.

 

Obama will take office as president in January, the month when Mexico will take its seat as a [two year] nonpermanent member of the UN Security Council.

 

[Question]  In the relationship with the United States, what role could Mexico play as a nonpermanent member of the UN Security Council, Restrepo was asked?

 

[Response]  Obama knows the importance and influence that the Mexican government has in international forums.  It will be useful in order to gain consensus.  He wants to have a more cooperative international relationship, and he wants to work jointly with Mexico in the UN, on other international forums, and in the bilateral framework in order to advance in the interests and values that both nations share.

 

• Also see Obama's top Latin American advisors are mostly centrists, The Oppenheimer Report, The Miami Herald, November 13, 2008.

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Edited translation from Proceso (a weekly magazine), "Lo que quiere con México," by J. Jesús Esquivel, November 12, 2008, Mexico City

 

MexiData.info translation