[Polítics] López Obrador seeks to regain regional prominence with the announcement of his first trips to Latin America

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The Mexican president is breaking his proverbial reservation about travel and international politics. In the three long years of his mandate, Andrés Manuel López Obrador has left Mexico only twice, always to the United States and required by the solemnity of the appointment: the entry into force of the free trade agreement and the temporary presidency of the UN Security Council. However, the Mexican president seems willing to step on the accelerator during the second part of the six-year term with the recent announcements of a battery of trips more focused on the southern neighbors, dusting off a Latin Americanist agenda that had a first precedent during the temporary presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) two years ago.

From Tapachula, the heart of the migratory crisis, he announced last Friday a tour of Cuba and Central America to seek agreements with the governments of the so-called northern triangle and stop migratory flows. While this Monday, during his morning conference, he did not rule out traveling to Argentina as well. The new tentative announcement came after the diplomatic trip made last week by his wife, Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller, through the southern cone. In addition to attending the inauguration of Chilean President Gabriel Boric, he also passed through Argentina to transfer his support to President Alberto Fernandez in the face of "the great offensive of the right."

The latest movements are part of the new political balance in the region. In addition to the victory of the Broad Front, the coalition of Chilean leftists, this year's presidential elections in Colombia and Brazil may bring about two new progressive rulers. In fact, López Obrador released on Monday the content of a letter sent by the Argentine president in which he urged him to "accompany" the Brazilian candidate, Lula da Silva, and "strengthen the MBA (Mexico, Brazil and Argentina). Fernández pointed out in the letter that "the region's policy could be directed towards a better democratic quality and fundamentally in a fairer distribution of income."

 

The response of the Mexican president was to support his Argentine counterpart, even going beyond the creation of a hub between the three regional giants. “I think that regardless of this alliance in Latin America, the integration of all of our America should be sought. Like the European Union, the entire American continent must be integrated, consolidate the integration of North America, but also think about Central America. Just as Alberto speaks of the continent with the most inequality, it is undoubtedly the continent with the most economic and commercial potential.”

Despite López Obrador's reluctance to dedicate too much effort outside its borders - one of his most repeated sayings is: "The best foreign policy is domestic policy" - the Morena government has been sending signals of his interests . The asylum of former Bolivian president Evo Morales was followed by the assumption in 2020 of the temporary presidency of CELAC. And from that platform, Mexico has launched an open offensive against the OAS, sponsored by the US, confirming the Mexican will to take a step forward in the international arena.

The first meeting of the organization served as the stage for an unusual allegation against the economic blockade against Cuba and, above all, the ordering of the OAS, after months of tensions against the personalism of its secretary general, Luis Almagro. The Mexican president then went so far as to ask for the replacement of the OAS by "an organization that is no one's lackey", opening the door to new regional balances in the relationship between Latin America and the United States. The second meeting was attended by the Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and the Cuban Manuel Díaz-Canel.

The management of vaccines has been another of the fronts where Mexico has first taken the initiative. In February of last year, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard denounced to the United Nations Security Council the unequal distribution of vaccines against covid-19. In addition, the foreign minister then spoke on behalf of CELAC, expanding the speaker of him as a regional leader. Shortly after and taking advantage of the visit to Mexico of the Argentine president, Alberto Fernández, the vaccines also served as the axis of a joint diplomatic action. The Mexico-Argentina agreement materialized, within the framework of CELAC, in the production of the first vaccine manufactured and packaged in the region.

 

https://elpais.com/mexico/2022-03-14/lopez-obrador-busca-recuperar-el-protagonismo-regional-con-el-anuncio-de-sus-primeros-viajes-por-latinoamerica.html