Claudia Sheinbaum
Does Mexico have any influence on Trump? President Claudia Sheinbaum is hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst
In the United States, power has shifted from a president suffering from progressive dementia to a president gripped by aggressive megalomania. Trump — a Republican eagle in a dovecote, which the United States has become — is destroying everything in his path: he’s firing off party poppers, scaring off the faint-hearted and warning all sorts of opponents that he’s so powerful. Meanwhile, the firecrackers, which have a tendency to explode unexpectedly and even tear off limbs, are tested by Trump on those who aren’t intimidated by his poppers. It is no coincidence that of the 46 presidential decrees issued in the first days of Trump’s administration, 10 were directly or indirectly related to Mexico, the southern neighbor of the United States.
He ordered criminal groups in Mexico to be declared foreign terrorist organizations, declared a state of emergency on the southern border, reinstated policies that leave migrants stranded on Mexican soil, and ordered federal agencies to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the «Gulf of America». He broke his promise not to impose a 25 percent tariff on goods imported from Mexico and Canada.
In cities on both sides of the 2,000-mile (3,145-kilometer) U.S.-Mexico border, residents and migrants, authorities and businesses — and, of course, Border Patrol agents — have heard the alarm and are already lining up in defensive positions for any eventuality. «Trump talks a lot, but we don’t know how he will act. He is unpredictable», said Ismael Burgueño Ruiz, the mayor (alcalde) of the border city of Tijuana. «If Trump actually does what he says, it will affect the dynamics of our border and the lives of the residents of the state», he added.
In Tijuana, the urgent construction of temporary shelters for the «rejected» has already begun. And notably, these shelters are only for Mexican citizens. Mexico is not prepared to «feed, clothe and support» refugees from Central America, Haiti, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil — in fact, from almost all Latin American countries — at its own expense.
Thus, the first firecracker exploded in the hands of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has had to shoulder the consequences of the White House’s decisions regarding American miscalculations on border policy and migrants, the fight against drug cartels, bilateral economic cooperation, and even «countering» China.
According to some sources, there are 11.7 million illegal immigrants in the United States. About 5 million of them are Mexicans. Moreover, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) budget currently only allows for the maintenance of about 41,000 individuals. Trump wants to put the rest on someone else’s shoulders. In fact, he is prepared to place the worst of the worst — 30,000 people — in the American «concentration camp» at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Typically, these individuals will later be used by the U.S. for subversive and terrorist activities in other countries.
The paradox is that Trump’s mass deportation program, if implemented, will result in an exodus of undocumented, low-wage workers, which will increase the cost of labor in the U.S. and drive up inflation. This could also lead to a sharp rise in food prices — one of the main issues worrying ordinary Americans. Chicken eggs, by the way, have already doubled in price in the U.S., and each person is allotted only about two dozen.
In a state of manic euphoria, Trump threatened to send troops to Mexico to fight drug cartels. And here lies the problem of the new-old president’s dementia (age takes its toll). Trump seems to have forgotten that the bandits are well armed by the U.S. itself, that they can inflict serious damage on American troops invading Mexico, and that they have both the weapons and the manpower necessary to cross the border and reclaim territories once conquered by North Americans.
All of this was evident in Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s sharp response to Trump’s threat. She said that American weapons shipped to Mexico «incite crime and violence by the very gangs that smuggle drugs into the U.S. market». «Unfortunately, people are dying in our country as a result of the violence caused by the demand for drugs in your country», Sheinbaum said.
Millions of Mexicans living in the United States, both legally and illegally, are «pillars» of the Mexican economy, collectively sending more than $60 billion back to their families each year. Mass deportation could deal a severe blow to Mexico’s already fragile economy, which has historically been export-oriented and closely tied to the United States — which receives more than 80% of the country’s exports.
And what else but schizophrenia can explain that on his very first day in the White House, Trump reaffirmed his promise to impose 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada starting February 1 if those countries «don’t start dealing with migration and drugs».
Moreover, Sheinbaum is eager to avoid a confrontation that could jeopardize the nearly $800 billion in annual trade between Mexico and the U.S. Her government has accommodated the White House — even to the detriment of its own economy — by restricting cheap Chinese imports, all in an effort to appease the American maverick. But the renewed threats of tariffs have sent a clear signal that Mexico remains particularly vulnerable to Trump, who, incidentally, has refrained from imposing trade tariffs on China himself.
«It is much easier for the Trump administration to attack Mexico than China», said Jack McIntyre, a money manager at Brandywine Global Investment Management. «It’s part of Trump’s passion for using uncertainty as a weapon».
On January 24, the new U.S. administration announced the official renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the «Gulf of America». President Sheinbaum not only rejected the U.S. president’s decision, but suggested that the southern states of the U.S. be renamed «Mexican America», which she argued was a matter of historical justice. «This is nothing new», Sheinbaum said. «Why shouldn’t we call it Mexican America? It sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?»
A few days after the mass, violent deportation of migrants from the U.S. began, Mexico City unveiled the «Mexico Embraces You» project, which allows repatriated Mexican migrants to join the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) to receive medical care in cases of serious illness, maternity, unemployment risk, disability, retirement, or dismissal in old age. Sheinbaum noted that the Mexican private sector has offered some 35,000 jobs to support the deportation program. These jobs will be in sectors such as services and manufacturing. In reality, however, this is a drop in the bucket.
Washington is incapable of offering Mexico and other Central and South American countries any alternative to unilateral military action. On the day of his inauguration, when asked if he could send special forces to Mexico to «take out the gangs», Trump replied: «It could happen. And it has happened before». Already, 1,500 American commandos have been sent south.
Trump couldn’t have come up with better free publicity for the president of Mexico. Her approval rating has soared to 78%. If the insane Donald’s plans are fully implemented, they will only harm the United States: illegal immigration is likely to increase as avenues of legal entry are blocked.
«We must avoid confrontation — it is our duty», said Sheinbaum, who was joined at the press conference by the foreign and security ministers. «At the same time, we must act as equals and not as subordinates. Defend our sovereignty, our independence, and protect the Mexican people».
An editorial in the Mexican daily La Jornada, which reflects the views of Mexico’s political establishment, issued a clear warning: «Although the United States no longer has the diplomatic, political, financial and military resources to shape the world according to its interests, it does have the means to inflict enormous damage. In this sense, the hostile and deceptive rhetoric currently being used against Mexico incites hatred and endangers the physical integrity and freedom of millions of people. Thus, the bravado used to appease the paranoia of its electorate becomes a risk factor both inside and outside the borders of the U.S. and must be met with intelligence and determination».
A few days ago, a serious underground tunnel — equipped with electricity and basic ventilation — was discovered along the Mexico-U.S. border. American and Mexican mafiosi had dug it to facilitate the transfer of drugs and migrants from Ciudad Juárez in the state of Chihuahua to El Paso in Texas. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, a total of 90 tunnels have been discovered in Southern California since 1993. Only God knows how many more have been dug and remain undiscovered.
Malicious tongues claim that Border Patrol agents on both sides of the Mexico-U.S. border routinely refer to service dog puppies as «Donalds» and «Trumps».