Biden builds a rapport with Mexico’s president
Relations warm during summit with Trudeau
MEXICO CITY — It was only about two years ago that Mexico’s leader would not even recognize President Biden’s election victory. But on Monday, the two men were standing side by side at Mexico’s national palace, locked in a group hug with their wives.
The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, later called his American counterpart “a visionary president,” saying “there would be no other leader” who could unify the Western Hemisphere.
It was a remarkable turn in a critical relationship that started on uneasy footing, but has shifted in part because Biden has invested heavily in personal diplomacy with the Mexican head of state — and López Obrador has realized how beneficial it is to be on friendly terms with the United States.
Significant challenges remain pressing on both sides of the border, and the two countries are not always aligned on how to contain an extraordinary movement of people across the Americas, curb the surging trade in fentanyl or combat climate change.
The meeting between Biden, López Obrador, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, known as the North American Leaders’ Summit, concluded Tuesday without yielding much in the way of new policies. And it’s unclear whether any of the warm gestures on display at the summit will translate into more lasting cooperation on those contentious issues.
At a news conference Tuesday evening, López Obrador stressed the importance of leaving behind “hegemonic interventionism,” saying the three countries must treat each other “as good neighbors, economic allies, and as friends.”
Energy remains a sticking point, as the United States and Canada have accused Mexico of violating a free-trade agreement with policies that boost a stateowned electrical utility over international companies.
But the gathering did send a clear message: Years after former president Donald Trump at best neglected — and at worst battered — partnerships in North America, the United States is back on better terms with some of its closest allies.
A crucial part of the summit, said Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s foreign minister, was deepening “personal relations” between the leaders.
Senior Biden administration officials have recognized that the rapport between the two leaders was key to securing deeper collaboration from Mexico’s government in stemming the historic flows of people arriving at the US border. “I’m grateful to have both of you as partners — and, might I add, friends — as we work together to realize a shared vision for North America,” Biden said to his Canadian and Mexican counterparts at Tuesday’s news conference.
Biden has been focused on building personal ties with the Mexican leader, said a senior state department official not authorized to speak publicly.
The friendly exchanges represent a notable shift from the way the relationship began.
López Obrador was among the last world leaders to congratulate Biden on his election victory in 2020, insisting on waiting “until all the legal issues are resolved.”
“The relationship between AMLO and Biden started off on the wrong foot,” said Martha Bárcena, who was appointed by López Obrador as Mexico’s ambassador to the United States from 2018 to 2020.
López Obrador feared the United States’s largely hands-off approach toward the country’s business under Trump would change with Biden.
But in recent months, López Obrador’s stance has appeared to soften.
What changed? Analysts point to Republicans’ disappointing showing in the midterms and Biden’s recovery in public opinion polls, a sign that the US president might be politically stronger than many in Mexico expected.