MEXICO CITY (AP) — President Andres Manuel López Obrador took office in 2018 hoping to restore Mexico’s old reputation as Latin America’s diplomatic leader, but all he has accomplished is The plan was to expel several Mexican ambassadors from regional countries.
On Friday, President López Obrador continued his heated rhetoric, vowing to send military aircraft to remove the ambassador after Ecuador ordered its Mexican ambassador to leave the country the day before. I promised. Previously, both Peru and Bolivia had withdrawn their ambassadors in similar disputes.
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President López Obrador acknowledged that his criticism of the conservative government could lead to more countries expelling Mexican diplomats, saying it was likely to lead to “Latin American oligarchies and foreign countries that are actually running things.” This is because our stance is distasteful to the hegemonic powers.”
On Friday, April 5, 2024, a car with a diplomatic plate leaves the Mexican embassy in Quito, Ecuador. Ecuador on Thursday declared Mexico’s ambassador to Quito persona non grata following recent statements by Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador regarding the 2023 Ecuadorian presidential elections. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
It echoes the hard-left rhetoric in which López Obrador nostalizes the days from the 1960s to the early 1980s, when Mexico’s former ruling party, the PRI, defended Cuba and helped start peace talks with leftist rebels in Central America. It sounds like. But the president has failed to adapt to Latin America’s recent rapid swing from left to right.
Arturo Zarkán, Mexico’s former ambassador to the United States, said, “As a guy who has no interest in foreign policy, he has a fantasy of what Mexico’s foreign policy should be. It’s Mexico,” he said. As a PRI politician, using Latin America as a foil against the United States is typical of the PRI’s foreign policy.
López Obrador is known for his lack of interest in foreign policy, rarely traveling or meeting with other leaders, but this sounds like one of the president’s repeated petty diplomatic disputes. The matter may escalate further.
Mexico is using its embassy in Ecuador to shelter officials from the former leftist government of former President Rafael Correa, who was very fond of López Obrador. The former official is on the run from two convictions and further corruption investigations. Mexico upped the ante on Friday by granting him asylum, but expressed concern that Ecuador could raid its embassy to arrest former officials accused of corruption.
“The Mexican government rejects the increased presence of Ecuadorian police outside the Mexican embassy in Quito,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday. “This is clear harassment of the embassy and a serious violation of the Geneva Conventions.”
The entire altercation began when López Obrador, known for making rude comments during his marathon daily press conferences, made insulting comments about current Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, saying, “They have created a climate of fear.” It started after a conservative suggested he had become president. ”
López Obrador claims that conservatives used the assassination of Ecuador’s 2023 presidential candidate and anti-corruption campaigner Fernando Villavicencio to sway the election in Noboa’s favor and prevent Correa from reviving his leftist movement. did.
The comments from the Mexican leader come considering that Mexican drug cartels are believed to be involved in many of Ecuador’s gangs, which are responsible for exploding levels of violence in the South American country. , was a particularly delicate one. President López Obrador has a policy of not confronting cartels.
But the comment also seemed insulting on a personal level to many.
Amanda Villavicencio, one of the assassinated candidate’s daughters, posted on her social media account Thursday: “Mr. López Obrador, you should rinse your mouth before you talk about my father. Fernando Villavicencio. He was killed by the mafias he was always investigating. Some of them.” They are taking refuge in your embassy and your country.
The situation is complicated by the fact that things are not going López Obrador’s way in Latin America.
Argentina’s former leftist president Alberto Fernández is Mr López Obrador’s only close ally in the region, along with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, the only foreigner invited to speak at Mexico’s Independence Day celebrations. He is one of the people. Fernández was ousted from power in last year’s election by Javier Millay, a radical liberal and free market advocate.
Another major diplomatic leader in Latin America, Brazil’s leftist president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has taken a neutral stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and in condemning Israel for the Gaza war. He is far ahead of López Obrador. At one point, he controversially likened Israel’s actions to the Holocaust.
So López Obrador’s desire to lead a resurgence of leftist currents in Latin America has resulted in waves that periodically roll through the region every 10 years or so, even though the region is now experiencing less than a grand swing. , was frustrated by being much more like a rapidly switching pinball machine. Ideological pendulum.
“He doesn’t understand foreign policy,” said Sarkhan, a former diplomat. “He doesn’t understand how the world has changed since the 1970s and how Mexico’s role in the world has changed.”
But in a real sense, Latin America is second only to Mexico’s most important economic relationship with the United States. Latin America is an arena where Mexico “looks” left-wing, while bowing to American demands in every other respect.
In 2022, President López Obrador famously refused to attend a US summit in Los Angeles because Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela were not invited.
But aside from some economic aid to Cuba, such as purchasing vaccines, importing doctors and supplying oil to the island, President López Obrador’s support for Cuba remains largely rhetorical.
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López Obrador promised not to cause tensions with the United States when he took office, and he has largely kept that promise by ensuring that he complies with all American demands on the most important issue: immigration.
Mexico agreed to stop migrants before they reach the U.S. border and also agreed to accept deportees who are not Mexican nationals, which is not required by law.
