Mexico, Canada shuffle diplomats for Trump era
On Jan. 13, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto appointed Geronimo Gutierrez as his country’s new ambassador to the U.S.
He will replace Carlos Sada, who was appointed in April 2016 and presented his credentials in June 2016. Sada has shifted over to the post of undersecretary for North America.
The Mexican president has now appointed and replaced four ambassadors to the U.S. in four years.
Sada had replaced Miguel Basañez Ebergenyi, who had served from September 2015. Basañez Ebergenyi was widely criticized for downplaying Donald Trump’s candidacy for U.S. president and being slow to formulate responses to Trump’s attacks on Mexico. And Basañez Ebergenyi had replaced Eduard Medina-Mora Icaza, who was President Peña Nieto’s first ambassador to the U.S., serving from January 2013 to March 2015.
Another recent major change enacted by Peña Nieto is the appointment, some would say the resurrection, of Luis Videgaray Caso on Jan. 4 as Mexico’s secretary of Foreign Affairs. Videgaray Caso was put on ice by Peña Nieto after he was instrumental as secretary of Finance and Public Credit in arranging Trump’s visit to Mexico City on Aug. 31, 2016 — a visit widely viewed by Mexicans as humiliating and demeaning.
Peña Nieto was lambasted in the press and in public for having agreed to meet Trump after the presidential candidate made disparaging remarks about Mexicans on the campaign trail and boasted about building a border wall and having Mexico pay for it.
Videgaray Caso was made a scapegoat for Trump’s pre-election visit and was replaced in his post.
(Just last week, now-President Trump’s moves on immigration caused even further friction with Mexico, prompting Peña Nieto to cancel a trip to Washington this week for his first meeting with the new president.)
After Videgaray was replaced, candidate Trump expressed remorse that “Mexico and the United States would have made wonderful deals together” had Videgary not been replaced. Much of Trump’s sentiment towards this Mexican minister is probably based on son-inlaw Jared Kushner’s acquaintance and good relationship with Videgary. His re-emergence is seen as a move by Mexico to put an administration official in place who can better understand Trump’s tendencies and psyche.
Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a major move of his own on Jan. 10 by appointing Chrystia Freeland as Canada’s Foreign Minister. Freeland is viewed by many as being the best person to manage U.S.-Canadian relations going forward, as President Trump publicly indicates a shift toward more U.S. isolationism in foreign affairs and trade. A renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement would also deeply affect Canada.
These changes by Mexico and Canada are akin to a basketball coach substituting players on the floor depending on their defensive skills and whom they need to guard. However, the analogy is incongruent if looked at from the standpoint that these are our North American neighbors, close allies and friends scrambling to make these changes. Many people might find the switching of diplomatic players somewhat amusing. However, the changes should be looked at in a different light, one that should cause Americans consternation.
On the campaign trail and during his inaugural speech, Trump consistently painted the U.S. and the world as being in crisis. The Middle East is in perpetual unrest, ISIS has escalated its war on the West by being responsible for terrorist acts in Europe, and China is threatening its neighbors with threats and military maneuvers.
As Americans, we live in a time where events outside of our borders can have an immediate effect on our welfare. Going it alone is not an option. In order to ensure a healthy economy and to combat threats such as terrorism, the U.S. needs to develop strong relationships with its allies.
And what better allies does the U.S. have than our neighbors in North America? Both Canada and Mexico aid in U.S. efforts to prevent terrorists from crossing our borders. Both work with the U.S. on general security and legal issues. From a North American standpoint, total trade among the three partners tops $946 billion. Millions of American jobs depend on this trilateral trade.
The fact that our allies are making so many diplomatic changes as relates to the U.S. is a worrisome indication of the instability and uncertainty that has taken hold in North America. Rather than making changes to maximize their relationship with the U.S., the changes seem to be frantic reactions to try to anticipate what might come out of Washington once Trump settles in and pushes his agenda forward.
We expect stability and diplomatic relations based on cooperation and trust from our allies. The same should be expected from the U.S. Destabilization of our allies should not be our path going forward.