Eduardo Verástegui and Trumpist Christian Nationalism
Diego Martín Velázquez Caballero
The meeting between Eduardo Verástegui and U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson has generated interest due to Verástegui's closeness to President Donald Trump and his MAGA movement. Verástegui represents a faction of the Mexican right that seeks to consolidate a political bloc aligned with Trump's interests in Mexico.
Verástegui has established ties with international right-wing leaders, especially Trump, and has participated in Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) events in the United States. His goal is to found a political party in Mexico similar to Trump's Republican Party, promoting a political-religious agenda that combines neoliberalism, Christian nationalism, and Catholicism.
The Mexican right is currently dispersed and lacks a coherent discourse, divided into several factions. Verástegui seeks to attract disenchanted conservative sectors and PAN members with an agenda aligned with the principles of the American right. Their movement, "Viva México," could open a new space for the right in the country.
The Mexican right is dispersed, divided, and lacking a strategic logic, much less a coherent discourse. The Mexican right has become tribalized by economic factionalism. On the one hand, conservative and traditionalist Catholic nationalism is unsure whether to remain in the PAN, found a new political party, or even join Morena at the express invitation of Ricardo Monreal. The neoliberal right remains tied to technocratic essentialism, but lacks the capacity to explain and justify itself to society, which it continues to view as a six-thousand-dollar group. The libertarian right has become an anti-populist and anti-Mexican club. The civil and liberal right is dispersed in the pink tide, recreating the nostalgia for decent PANism.
The adoption of Trumpism by Verástegui and other participants at CPAC Mexico could intensify political polarization and legitimize radical discourses. The presence of international figures with classist and racist discourse could deepen social divisions and erode Mexican democracy.
The closeness between Verástegui and Ambassador Johnson is significant, as Johnson called Verástegui "his brother" during a private dinner in his honor. This meeting reflects the interest of a faction of the Mexican right in strengthening its ties with Trumpism, which carries significant risks for Mexico's political and social stability.
With Verástegui, Mexico could become like Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, or the Dominican Republic. Perhaps this is not a bad invitation to the right-wing parties in our country, who lack the strength to transform Mexico into a conservative modernity like Spain, Chile, or Argentina. It is not just a traditional patriarchy that lies behind Eduardo Verástegui; there is a Mexican national project that integrates, in some ways, with Donald Trump's MAGA perspective. The power network surrounding Verástegui connects North American politicians seeking to replicate Miami in Latin America, but there are also Latin American and Hispanic collaborators.
Verástegui's national project conditions Mexico's annexation to North America and, above all, ecumenism with Protestant Christians. Although the anti-Castro influence of Hispanic North American politicians seems evident, there is also a hidden Catholic right wing that is on the verge of religious schism due to its lack of influence in the Catholic Church, mainly due to recent changes.