The Myth of the Error

Ever since Barack Obama came out on top as the favorite candidate in October, editorials and columns began to claim that Calderon had made a mistake meeting with John McCain during the Republican candidate’s visit to Mexico. When Obama won, the criticism became vicious. They wrote that Calderon had erred in his strategy, that he had aligned himself again with the wrong candidate just as Salinas de Gortari had done with Bush Senior who lost his bid for reelection to Clinton, and that now the Mexican government should try to repair the damage done to the relationship with the candidate that ended up winning the election. Honestly, these claims about the alleged error committed by Calderon’s administration hold no water at all.

First of all, McCain was received with the deference worthy of a senator vying for the U.S. presidency whose political career has been extensive; nothing more and nothing less. Calderon’s statements only served to announce that if McCain had won, he would be ready to work with the new administration, which doesn’t represent unconditional support for McCain but the fact that there would soon be a change of leadership in the United States. “Unconditional support” would be when Nicolas Sarkozy hosted Obama in the Elysee Palace where he declared he was receiving “a buddy,” which led a journalist to ask him if he was aware that he had just supported the Democratic candidate over the candidate of his friend George Bush’s party.

Had it been Obama who visited Mexico, there would be no reason for him to be treated differently from McCain. The problem lies in that even though Obama had announced plans to visit our country, they changed just after his tour through the Middle East and Europe. The reason for the cancellation had little to do with the importance of Mexico. We must remember that when Obama appeared at the Brandenburg Gate in Germany and was met by a crowd of 200,000 people, the democratic candidate’s team was more alarmed than celebratory due to the fact that McCain took advantage of the imagery to convey Obama as another celebrity, unfit to be President of the nation. They released a political ad in which Obama appeared with Paris Hilton. Really, how serious can a politician be when compared to the queen of frivolity? Because of the attack, Obama’s campaign decided to suspend the international tour including the visit to Mexico. We were a victim of circumstance and nothing more.

These first weeks since Obama became President-elect have served significantly to show that there is no lack of interest in nor disdain towards Mexico. Foremost, Obama called Calderon 36 hours after his win, being the only contact initiated with a Latin American leader among the batch of first calls to other countries such as Great Britain, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Canada and Australia. The next President to be contacted by Obama was Lula [of Brazil]… a week later.

Furthermore, the first people announced to form part of Obama’s team are individuals who know Mexico very well. Rahm Emmanuel, who will be Chief of Staff, was one of the primary supporters of NAFTA in Clinton’s administration. Hillary Clinton, most likely the next Secretary of State, also is no stranger to Mexico. Janet Napolitano, the future head of Homeland Security, has rallied energetically for the need to reform immigration policy from the governorship of Arizona. The speculated Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, was the one in charge of creating and implementing Mexico’s rescue plan in 1995.

In other words, we shouldn’t be worrying ourselves about an alleged mistake made by President Calderon. Things are looking more than optimistic in the new Obama administration where our voice is likely to be heard and our needs taken into account. Now we just have to work to make sure this happens.