This week, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) will travel to Washington D.C. to meet with President Trump. The visit, hurriedly organized over the past two weeks (presidential visits normally require months of planning), now has an exclusive focus on bilateral relations. The original intent of the visit was to celebrate the coming into force of the new North American free trade agreement known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada has shown no interest in traveling to Washington at this time to meet with Trump or AMLO. Instead, Trudeau is focused firmly on addressing the many domestic challenges faced by Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic, preferring to speak with AMLO by phone on Monday. AMLO, having said repeatedly that his main focus is on Mexico and that the best foreign policy is a good domestic policy, has strangely decided that the middle of a pandemic is the right time to make his first official visit to another country.
Author
Mexico Institute
The Mexico Institute seeks to improve understanding, communication, and cooperation between Mexico and the United States by promoting original research, encouraging public discussion, and proposing policy options for enhancing the bilateral relationship. A binational Advisory Board, chaired by Luis Téllez and Earl Anthony Wayne, oversees the work of the Mexico Institute. Read more
