Investment in North American lobbying
Diego Martín Velázquez Caballero
Now that the heat of the US campaigns for the presidency of the American Union begins, Mexico will be a constant in the attacks launched by the candidates of the main political parties. Jorge Shabat held the idea that, since Calderonism, the Mexican government has forgotten the important role played by the mediators and intermediaries of the US political system and the effects on the image of a country in the eyes of North American public opinion. The war against drugs, the deep level of corruption and progressive populism are not the best letters of introduction in the face of a gringo electoral climate that demands Mexican blood to atone for the errors of its geopolitics. Mexico becomes the ugly mirror of Chinese, Russian and terrorist power.
A few days ago, during an academic event that invited the participation of Guadalupe Correa and Osvaldo Zavala, the analysis of drug trafficking in Mexico also exposed the consequences on North American public opinion and, above all, on political campaigns. The enormous symbolic power of Mexican folklore and gastronomy is being dangerously contaminated by drug trafficking, as has happened with music, religion and television dramas, to generate absolute stereotypes that harm the Mexican image in the eyes of the common North American citizen. In electoral periods, this translates into the selection of politicians who protect North American society from the danger of Mexican drug trafficking through whatever means are necessary. Although it is proven in Mexico that fentanyl is not produced and that drug cartels do not exist, the North American social perception is different and the Mexican government does little to defend itself there.
Due to the dynamics of national presidential centralism, the role of the legislative branch in the presidentialism of the United States is forgotten. Beyond the fact that Joe Biden or Donald Trump are increasingly similar, the risk lies in the fact that hundreds of anti-Mexican legislators can achieve seats through any party. For this reason, lobbying in the Congress of the American Union and local legislative powers is essential. Some studies in this regard demonstrate that the greater the investment in American lobbyists, the positive effects on investment, image and foreign policy multiply. Even in governments like those of Salinas and Fox, the beneficial effects of lobbying go so far as to propose policies that openly promote North American integration for Mexico. Unlike other governments and companies, it has been the Mexican rulers and the national political class who have abandoned the alternative.
Changing the perception of the American citizen regarding what is happening in Mexico is essential for our country that depends on North America. The masses to prevent Donald Trump from winning are useless in this sense, as are the speeches of social justice and the presumption of qualified majorities that, in truth, have the opposite effect. The little Russian boats don't help much either.