A "pause." That's what Mexico's president Andrés Manuel López Obrador declared this week to take in relations with both the U.S. Embassy and the Canadian Embassy. This decision follows criticism from the embassies of both North American countries regarding a proposed judicial overhaul in Mexico. The proposal involves reforming the country's constitution to elect judges to Mexico's judicial branch–not appoint them. The criticism was leveled by the U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar last week who said that the move would be a "major risk to the functioning of Mexico's democracy."
In a press conference on Tuesday, reports indicate that López Obrador said "How are we going to let the ambassador, with all due respect, because this isn't an argument between enemies, but how are we going to permit that he opines that what we're doing is bad?"
It's doubtful at this point that the pause may affect the export of key Mexican products, such as avocados, to the U.S.: Photo: Avocado Institute of Mexico
Embassies not countries
Notably, since the initial declaration López Obrador has come out to say that the pause would be in dealings with the embassies rather than the countries.
In all, it left a question mark regarding foreign relations between all three countries. It is also unclear at this point if the declaration will affect produce at all though some feel optimistic that it won't.
"I doubt very much that this will have a material impact on commerce," said Mark Greenberg of Capespan North America. "Canada, and the U.S. especially, are important trading partners with Mexico and need one another's goods and markets."
For more information:
Mark Greenberg
Capespan North America
www.capespan.com