Opportunity to build a bridge, not a wall

The election of a hardline leftist to Mexico’s presidency can offer opportunities or major challenges, depending on the direction US President Donald Trump chooses. If Trump mishandles future relations with President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, he can expect nothing but deepening trade woes, greater immigration and drugtrafficking problems, and long-term damage to what once was a flourishing binational alliance.

Lopez Obrador pledges to tackle out-of-control corruption and focus like a laser beam on the biggest problem facing Mexico: rampant poverty. Those happen to be two of the biggest factors feeding the immigration problem at the southern US border. Instead of attacking the trade imbalance with Mexico, Trump should recognise that a healthy churn of commerce is creating thousands of jobs in Mexico. The more that happens, the less incentive Mexicans will have to pull up stakes and migrate. The more Trump establishes a co-operative relationship with Lopez Obrador to tackle corruption, the better the two can work together to dismantle the gangs behind the smuggling and trafficking network.

More likely, however, Trump will continue the confrontation and hostility, an approach that has yielded no noticeable success so far. It’s even less likely to produce positive results when a firebrand leftist assumes Mexico’s presidency in December.