Pena Nieto's Unfortunante Appointment of Luis Videgaray as Mexico's Secretary of Foreign Relations Cesar Villanueva Rivas - SinEmbargo
go to original January 11, 2017

Mexico’s new Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Videgaray stands during a press conference at the Los Pinos presidential residence in Mexico City (AP/Marco Ugarte)

It’s important to say it clearly and directly: the arrival of Luis Videgaray at the Secretariat of Foreign Relations represents one of the most anticlimactic moments of Mexican diplomacy of all time. If we were watching a play, surely Mexicans would be left abandoned, like Vladimir and Estragon, waiting for a Godot who never appears. [Waiting for Godot, by Samuel Beckett]

The change of command at the Secretariat of Foreign Relations (SRE) began with the new Secretary’s unfortunate statement, who says he "will learn" from the diplomatic corps, in a critical context that he himself acknowledged is plagued by real threats, and where national unity is required.

MV Note: Videgaray, was previously Secretary of the Treasury, and was responsible for the invitation to Trump to come to Mexico at the end of August to meet with President Peña Nieto, to try to reason with him about his positions on Mexico. This was seen by many as a humiliation of Mexico and as helping Trump's candidacy. The public outcry led to Videgaray's resignation. Now that Trump will be president, Peña Nieto this week appointed Videgaray to be Secretary of Foreign Relations, even though he, himself, acknowledged he has no training for the position. He has a Ph.D. in economics from MIT.

In all seriousness, these would be reasons to not name Luis Videgaray as the head of Mexican diplomacy: he doesn’t know the subject; the context is very complicated and he generates very high rejection in various sectors of society. Everyone understands that the real reason the now Secretary Videgaray gets to occupy the post of head of diplomacy is his personal relationship with the group surrounding US President-elect Donald Trump.

The intended objectives of this appointment are clear: contain the "Trump effect" damages to Mexico and seek a rational negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement’s new terms.

Videgaray’s appointment can be seen as an act of pure pragmatism that declares the Mexican foreign policy’s inability to affirm and renew its fundamental doctrine, conceding a strong hand to the capricious vision of a loquacious American President-elect.

For this delicate journey, President Enrique Peña Nieto has decided to place an inexperienced captain who only offers a "voodoo diplomacy", in which he will use magic tricks to change the route of damage that Donald Trump has inflicted on Mexico, both at the symbolic level of its national image and reputation, as well as in the substantive, with the construction of the wall, the foreseeable forced return of thousands or millions of Mexicans, and the change in rules for trade between the two countries.

Read the rest at Mexico Voices

Related: Mexico and Trump: Peña Nieto's Choice of Luis Videgaray as Secretary of Foreign Relations Is Alarming (Reforma)

Mexico Voices is a blogging endeavor aimed at raising the awareness of U.S. citizens regarding the destructive impact of the U.S. economic policy and the War on Drugs on Mexico - on its people, their economic and physical security and their human rights, on the nation’s dysfunctional justice system, and on the rule of law and Mexico’s fragile democracy. Visit the website at MexicoVoices.blogspot.mx

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