Mexican gov't may struggle to mend ties with Trump

The Mexican government is seeking to improve ties with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump before he takes office on Jan. 20, political experts said.

One move was to recently name Luis Videgaray as new minister of foreign affairs, the experts told Xinhua on Friday.

Videgaray stepped down as Economy Minister in September after shouldering the blame for a visit by Trump to Mexico, which was seen as reflecting poorly on President Enrique Peña Nieto.

However, he is seen as a safe pair of hands to manage the troubled relations with the U.S. and to begin the groundwork for dialogue with the White House.

"Before the change in U.S. government on Jan. 20, the instructions for Videgaray are to accelerate dialogue and contacts," said the president upon making the appointment on Wednesday.

Equally, the new minister will "promote the interests of Mexico and the dignity of Mexicans. He will have to ensure the attention and protection to which Mexicans living abroad have a right, including many in the U.S," the president stated.

However, this appointment did not delight all observers. "In order to improve relations with Trump, this nomination was made but it is more an act of submission," said Jorge Ortega, a lawmaker for the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), in an interview with Xinhua.

For Ortega, Trump will maintain a hostile political stance toward Mexico as "he has a vision against the free market. He is a nationalist in the worst sense of the word, xenophobic and against migrants, especially Mexicans."

Instead, the lawmaker suggests that Mexico should look to maintain NAFTA but also "find other options such as China, in Asia, Europe and the Middle-East, and not subject itself to Trump's submission."

Ivonne Acuña, a political analyst from the Ibero-American University, took a different tack. She told Xinhua that Videgaray's nomination had been expected.

"It had already been speculated in the press that Videgaray would take this position if Trump won the elections," she said.

"Mexico's future relations will be dominated by the economy, financial questions, and matters of free trade. This is where Videgaray can be a real help...but he may not be able to do the same for migrants or to reinforce issues of human rights," explained Acuña.

However, both experts agreed that Videgaray showed a lack of a political strategy by the Mexican government.

During his successful electoral campaign, Trump made a number of xenophobic comments against Mexicans, such as threatening to build a wall along the border and scraping NAFTA.

On Tuesday, Ford suspended a huge investment in Mexico, which would have created 2,800 jobs in the country, and redirected it to the U.S.

"We cannot continue like this, we must make the value of our country felt. We must not stay on the defensive and must not keep trying to satisfy Trump," said Ortega. 

source: Xinhua