It's not the Cartels, it's the Government

Last week I was in Austin, Texas at the Texas Public Policy Foundation Summit that took place from the 19th to the 21st of this month and it was very clear to me that Mexico is number one in the minds of the United States, but also that what worries them most is not the Cartels, but the Government.

The Summit was attended by Governor Greg Abbott and legislators such as Ted Cruz , Chip Roy, Dustin Borrows, Rick Santorum, Lois Kolkhorst, Charles Perry, Pete Flores, David Spiller, and Brian Steil, among others, who led conversations around topics as diverse as water, border security, elections, constitutional litigation, education, and the Chinese threat, and in which Mexico always appeared in one way or another, almost by reflex.

The country is so present in the psyche of its northern neighbor that, even if only indirectly, it was mentioned in the speech with which Governor Abbott inaugurated the Summit. The first thing he said as soon as he stepped onto the stage was that “today was a funny day to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico again, and that instead of the Gulf of America, it should be called the Gulf of Texas.” Everyone laughed, but in the end the message went beyond a joke, and in some way set the tone for the forum.

The resurgent patriotism of the Republican United States is practically anti-Mexican for almost everything, and it is activated in an outstanding way when topics related to immigration and drug cartels are touched upon. So it is of little use to be the first commercial partner, because even though it is very important for Mexico, in forums like this one it is barely mentioned.

In fact, I had the impression that I had been hearing between the lines a tropicalized version of that famous phrase by Porfirio Diaz with which we Mexicans express our regret about the bilateral relationship with our northern neighbor. Because here it was not about “Poor Mexico, so far from God and so close to the United States!”, but rather the opposite “Poor United States, so far from God and so close to Mexico!”. For this reason, “today more than ever” they should “Remember the Alamo!”, in the words of Greg Sindelair, CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, like the battle cry of the Texans during the Texas Revolution and the invasion of Mexico in 1848.

So if we accept Mark Twain's statement that "history does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme," the latter is chilling given the context in which we find ourselves in the bilateral relationship, in which the Cartels, sovereignty and patriotism are the protagonists.

It is not a good combination at all, and another thing I also understood is that the Cartels could very well be a means to another end. Because if the Mexican government does not respond as they expect and enforce the rule of law as it should, they will not hesitate to exert strong diplomatic pressure and declare Mexico a State Sponsor of Terrorism, just like Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria.

This is what is behind the new frequency of the bilateral relationship between Mexico and the United States and the plans that the Trump administration has to make “Mexico great again,” as was said so many times in the forum. Because in the end, it is not the Cartels, it is the government.

Last one out, turn off the light.