Next steps for Andrés Manuel López Obrador
It’s a perfect Sunday morning in Juárez for the presidential elections. The voters look at me in surprise, wondering what an American is doing here. They are both serious and nervous; today they will make a huge leap of faith and vote overwhelmingly for Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
No one is really sure what kind of a president he will be, but there is really no choice. Voters have to reject the corruption and chaos of the other two parties that have governed Mexico since 1929.
What comes next? Here are some ideas that could be implemented almost immediately, rebuilding trust between our countries and helping the new president succeed.
Crime and weapons
The Border Patrol has built comfortable checkpoints for border agents at the southbound lanes at crossing points like Palomas and Santa Teresa, N.M., but there are seldom any agents there. Ask President Donald Trump to shift agents from the overstaffed northbound lanes and have them check for weapons being smuggled into Mexico.
North American Free Trade Agreement
The overall negotiations will continue to be difficult. This is critical for New Mexico because about 40 percent of all New Mexico exports go to Mexico. In addition, the potential business growth at Santa Teresa is one of the few bright spots in the New Mexican economy and depends on the North American Free Trade Agreement, also called NAFTA. There are, however, two important sections of NAFTA that could now be implemented without waiting on these negotiations. First, the U.S. never followed through on its commitment to a border environmental cleanup plan; the result has been enormous health problems on the Mexican border due to environmental degradation. Not only is this a serious health issue but it could also lead to new business opportunities for New Mexican environmental companies.
On the Mexican side, the Mexican government didn’t follow through on assisting its small farmers who might be overwhelmed by the importation of U.S. products like corn. Why not get moving on both these issues now?
NAFTA has been a pathway to cooperation in many other areas like law enforcement. For example, Mexico’s extradition of alleged criminals to the United States increased dramatically after its passage. Both countries need to build on that sense of cooperation.
Cross-border manufacturing projects also resulted from NAFTA, making Mexico a leader in areas like the automobile industry. The creation of those good jobs not only fit Obrador’s plan to alleviate poverty but they also benefit us. Mexicans with good jobs in Mexico aren’t going to be interested in coming to the United States. So don’t do anything to unsettle those business ventures.
Immigration
“Comprehensive immigration reform” seems impossible, so why not focus on the least controversial component? That would be a guest worker program in which Mexicans could move back and forth for seasonal work. Mexico would benefit enormously from having its workers make money in the U.S. that could be used back home. And we desperately need the workers in areas like agriculture and construction.
A southern border program
The U.S. murder rate is about 5.4 murders per 100,000 people per year. In El Salvador, however, it is 87.8 per 100,000 or 15 times higher. It’s 56.5 in Honduras and 27.2 in Guatemala. No wonder people are fleeing northward. Therefore, ask Trump to join in a plan to help stabilize those countries, an admittedly difficult task but an essential one. After all, much of that violence is due to being on the drug route to the United States.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador won an overwhelming victory on July 1. Now let’s help him succeed, because if he succeeds, we succeed.
Santa Fe resident Morgan Smith is a former Colorado commissioner of agriculture and director of the Colorado International Trade Office. He travels to Mexico at least once a month to document and assist various humanitarian programs there. He can be reached at Morgan-smith@ comcast.net.