US Pushes for Submission

A number of worrying situations have been accumulating for Mexico since the start of Donald Trump’s second presidential term. They are situations that, collectively, would suggest that the United States is using fentanyl, migration and tariffs as a spearhead to continue building a tense and uncertain atmosphere, in turn encouraging the idea that an intervention in the country is necessary — which has, unfortunately, been greeted with great fanfare by the Mexican right and far-right, in support of its neighbor.

U.S. treatment of Mexican migrants, both documented and undocumented, has been disgraceful. Many have lived in the U.S. for years and have children who were born there, thereby making them Americans. Yet, now it is trying to pass a law that would revoke birthright citizenship. Incredible. The United States’ strategy has been to leave them in legal limbo so that, when convenient, it can destroy their lives, deporting them with racist and xenophobic discourse.

To top off the unlawfulness, the U.S. is now trying to implement a 3.5% tax on remittances, meaning they would be subject to double taxation, as these remittances are part of workers’ salaries which have already been taxed locally, federally and for education. This tax should be zero.

As for fentanyl, Mexico does play a part; however, actions against the United States, despite the fact that there are “gringo” cartel members, as documented by the journalist Jesús Esquivel, are practically nonexistent. In other words, the battle between one country and another is very unbalanced, yet the pressure does not cease. The U.S. is sending out drones and putting destroyers in waters near the Mexican coast; it is also bombarding social media with despicable warnings to migrants. Blacklists are appearing with the names of supposed government employees who are in the sights of the American justice system, without any evidence.

The icing on the cake has been the arrival of Ambassador Ronald Johnson, a retired U.S. Army Green Beret, ex-CIA operative and ex-ambassador to El Salvador during the presidency of Nayib Bukele, whose credentials do not realistically relate to diplomatic responsibilities, but rather security ones. His first appearances have shown who his true friends are, as was revealed when he was seen in a restaurant in Mexico City conversing with a member of the far-right, Eduardo Verástegui, whom he called “his brother,” whose ultimate ambition is to become the leader of the libertarians in Mexico.

Amid this tense environment came the terrible assassination of both the personal secretary and the adviser to head of Mexico City government Clara Brugada — Ximena Guzmán and José Muñoz — which has frozen our hearts, a coordinated and seemingly premeditated attack. They were two extraordinary and well-loved young professionals who carried out their vital work with the highest level of efficiency.

Of course, Marco Rubio’s immediate comments highlighting that “the political violence [in Mexico] is real” are not surprising. Trump’s offer to send in military support to combat the cartels comes to mind, an offer that President Claudia Sheinbaum turned down, but which led to his caustic remark that Sheinbaum did not accept it because “she is so afraid of the cartels, she can’t walk.” What is Trump trying to do by generating constant tension with Mexico? He is trying to subvert the country and President Sheinbaum, whose national project continues to advance toward the consolidation of a new regime framed by the message she has strongly underlined:

“Mexico is a sovereign, independent country and it will not submit.” This message acts as a brake on the colonialist, interventionist ambitions of its neighbors to the north, but sounds revolutionary enough to continue applying pressure because, among other reasons, the country contains enormous strategic natural resources.

It is for this reason that Mexico must diversify and strengthen its alliances, prioritizing the Latin American agenda with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and the BRICS nations. It must also pay attention to Southeast Asia, whose economic dynamism is forceful, and in particular China, under these new concepts of multilateralism and cooperation based on sovereignty.