‘Mexico pays for the migrant crisis, the US doesn’t give a penny’

Jorge Castañeda former Foreign Minister of Mexico spoke to Harici. Castañeda said that “it costs a lot of money to have tens of thousands of migrants in small cities all over the country. And Mexico should not be paying for it. On the contrary the US should be paying for housing them.”

The migrant crisis at the US-Mexico border continues. Thousands of migrants are trying to reach the US border across the Rio Grande River to seek humanitarian asylum. According to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in January-November 2023, more than 2 million 240 thousand people crossed the border through Mexico to the US.

US Secretary of State Blinken met with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in Mexico on wednesday to discuss the “migration crisis”. While no official statement was made after the 2.5-hour meeting, Lopez Obrador shared on his social media account, “We want this meeting to be privately conveyed to President Biden for a more comprehensive discussion of economic cooperation between the two countries, security and migration issues.”

Blinken, on the other hand, stated that “We are committed to partnering with Mexico to address our shared challenges, including managing unprecedented irregular migration in the region, reopening key ports of entry, and combating illicit fentanyl and other synthetic drugs.”

Jorge Castañeda, Mexico’s Foreign Minister from 2000 to 2003, answered journalist Esra Karahindiba’s questions about the migration problem, relations with the US and Obrador’s policies.

How did the 4th Transformation implemented by the current president Lopez Obrador affect Mexico? What will the future be like as Obrador’s party supports the project and might win the elections next year according to the public polls?

I think using the word “transformation” in his part is a bit exaggeration. There have been huge changes in Mexico. Some have been positive like increasing the minimum wage and in general having the wages go up and so many of them have been very negative. For example, the management of the Covid-19 pandemic was a disaster. Mexico is one of the countries that had the most numbers of exceeded deaths per capita in the world. And also, the educational regression we had because of Covid-19, was one of the worst ranks in the world according to PISA exam results in the OECD countries including Türkiye. I don’t think you should use the word transformation. It’s a government like any other. I think they have more mistakes than achievements. But some achievements are because of the fundamentals which the country has, so it would be the same no matter who is elected. For the future, right now, the polls suggest that his candidate will win but the election is still six months away and many things can change. Especially that now we know that it will be contest between the two candidates, and when you have two candidates, the election gets tighter. And I think that is very likely right now so I wouldn’t be that sure that the outcome is already decided.

What is your prediction for next year’s presidential elections? Is Obrador’s MORENA becoming a new PRI (Party of Institutionalized Revolution, which ruled Mexico for 70 years)?

Well, as I said I think the election result is still uncertain because there are a lot of time and there are so many things which have not yet happened. As whether MORENA is the new PRI, I think it resembles PRI in many ways. It has a vocation to perpetuate itself in power. It is profoundly corrupt. It has authoritarian temptations. They don’t necessarily occur. But there is a temptation in Obrador himself and his party has authoritarian measures. And most importantly, this is a very eclectic mixture of policies. Economy policies, social policies, against abortion but very nationalistic but at the same time doing the Americans’ dirty work on immigration but at the same time being very much in favor of fossil fuels and oil, but at the same time to reduce poverty and inequality but spending very little on health and education… Very eclectic mixture of policies which resembles the PRI many ways.

What effects will the immigration agreement between the USA and Mexico have on Mexico? Does Mexico have a responsibility to reduce the migration burden on its northern neighbor?

Well, there is not a really an agreement but there are these American demands for Mexico not allow the people to enter Mexico or if they enter Mexico not to enter the United States. It’s not an agreement. Mexico has asked the US to increase substantively the number of legal entries, and this did not happen. Mexico has asked the US to invest a lot of money in southeastern Mexico and Central America, that has not happened. My opinion is that Mexico should only help the United States in managing the flows of immigration from Central America, from the Caribbean’s, from south America. If the US pays for it, a bit like the European Union did with Türkiye in 2015. That is more appropriate policy because it costs a lot of money to have tens of thousands of migrants in small cities all over the country. And Mexico should not be paying for it. On the contrary the US should be paying for housing them, feeding them, meeting their health needs, raising their children. But the US do not pay a cent for those expenses.

Work was being carried out to initiate Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations between Turkey and Mexico. Do you know the extent of these initiatives? How does the FTA affect the relations between the two countries for improving the relations? 

I think FTA negotiates were announced and started when President Enrique Peña Nieto visited Türkiye in 2015 or so. They have not advanced very much because Mexico has ongoing and unfinished revision of its FTA with the European Union. And it’s difficult to conclude another one before that one is concluded.

Does Türkiye’s FTA is waiting for the EU?

I wouldn’t put it that way but Mexico cannot negotiate multiple things simultaneously. I think that it would be a very important agreement because there are certain attracting complimantarities between Türkiye and Mexico in economic terms. Now, we have increasing volume of tourism from Mexico to Türkiye. There are eleven flights per week on Turkish Airlines to Mexico which is very important sign of growing signs. Little I know about Turkish foreign policy in the region. Particular is of course the very important and successful of the Black Sea Grain Agreement between Ukraine and Russia which was very positive for everyone. Conversely regarding the situation in Gaza, President Erdoğan has a very strong stance on that and has been very critical of Israel for its treatment of the civilian population in Gaza. That is more difficult conflict to negotiate. Because there is a missing party. Who should Israel negotiate with? This is a question which no one has a good answer too. Türkiye does not have a good answer. Same for the EU and the US.

There is so much support to Palestine from Latin countries. Spain also promoted the recognition of Palestine and defines Israel as occupier. Can Mexico take such steps?

In terms of the state situation, Mexico has not yet recognized the Palestinian authority as the Palestinian State. We have a Palestinian delegation in Mexico City that self-designates itself as an embassy but Mexico does not acknowledge that. We have a counsellor office in Ramallah but it is not an embassy. I think that for Mexico it’s very important and it has always very supportive to the idea of Palestinian liberation and the creation of a Palestinian state along with two-state solution. Public opinion in Mexico is in many cases in favor of the Palestinian cause. But at the same time, Mexico was very very critical of the Hamas attack on Israeli civilians and types of acts that Hamas carried out inside of Israel and Mexico will continue to have a sympathy for the Palestinian cause but very little sympathy for Hamas’ actions, according to me.

Is there anything that I did not ask you but you want to add?

What is interesting is that Türkiye has shown a very good example with its immigration agreement with the EU in 2015. This is something which Mexico should study carefully and see what we could emulate in that agreement even if it has not been completely fulfilled by the EU. I think that Turkish role in conflicts in the area is very interesting and attracting example for other countries to study and follow. But understanding that the situation in Palestine and the occupied territories in Gaza in particular is so complex that not even a country like Türkiye which is so close to the region has any long term answers for the problem.