By Lina Garcia
June 29, 2009

Mexican Ambassador Sarukhan Says: Renewed Strategic Partnership Between US, Mexico Critical

By Lina Garcia

In his introduction of Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan, Conference President Miami Mayor Manny Diaz said, "The future of our two countries are interrelated and cooperation must be encouraged and strengthened." Sarukhan, a career diplomat and former international spokesperson and senior advisor to Mexican President Felipe Calderón, delivered a powerful speech to hundreds of mayors about the importance of reestablishing a strategic partnership between the United States and Mexico. He began his speech by pointing out that diplomacy is no longer just taking place at the federal level, but much is occurring at the grassroots level in cities.

"Let me start by saying that I am fully convinced that there are no other two countries like Mexico and the U.S. What is at stake today is whether the U.S. and Mexico can create a strong and strategic partnership," said Sarukhan.

The Ambassador pointed out that former U.S. President George Bush Sr. was able to understand that, after the fall of the Berlin wall, the only way for America to compete was to develop a free trade agreement. Former President Bill Clinton had the vision to push forward the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Mexico, Canada and the U.S. He added that still 15-20 years later, Mexico is working to strengthen the NAFTA agreement.

But the Ambassador's central focus of his speech was to discuss ways to address the unique opportunities and challenges associated with sharing a 2,000 mile border and decreasing crime in a country that was plagued with 7,000 drug-related deaths in the past two years. He highlighted five strategic drivers in the relationship between the two countries.

His first point was addressing the challenge of security. "Mexico and the U.S. are working hand and hand to make sure that our borders are not used by drug traffickers. But the challenge of transnational crime is also important. We need to end the cash flow of drugs and guns into Mexico from the U.S.," said Sarukhan.

According to the Ambassador, Mexico has very stringent gun control laws and gun shows do not even exist in the country. He added that just along the U.S./Mexico border with Texas and Arizona, there exist 7,000 gun shops that sell weapons, which become suppliers to drug cartels and criminals in Mexico. "Security will be a priority in shutting drug syndicates down and we have to work together."

The second priority for Mexico in their strategic relations with the U.S., is border infrastructure. The Ambassador said that in the two U.S. stimulus packages, President Obama and Calderón worked together on infrastructure development. "Our current infrastructure is not up to par to sustain important trade with Mexico. On any given day, 75,000 trucks cross our borders. But if we build a new and direct railroad crossing from Texas to Nuevo Leon, Mexico, this will be the latest update and construction since the railroad revolution in 1910. What we have now is what we had before NAFTA nearly 100 years ago, in 1910."

The third priority mentioned by the ambassador was addressing global environmental efficiency and environmental degradation. President Calderón has said that regardless of our size, a country like Mexico has a strong responsibility to mitigate carbon emissions. Some of our friends in places like Brazil, China and India are not happy that we are willing to address this problem since we're all developing nations trying to catch up with counties like the U.S., but President Calderón has made this a top priority for Mexico, said Sarukhan. The Ambassador said that, "Mexico is the only developing country that has submitted its three mandatory carbon emissions reports to the United Nations."

The fourth priority is economic growth and social well being. "Several years ago, NAFTA was responsible for 24 percent of all global trade, but the number has decreased today to 17 percent, so we're losing competitiveness on the global stage. But if we rejoin as well with our Canadian partners, we could strengthen our trading power and reinsure our economic prosperity," said Sarukhan.

The Ambassador's fifth and final priority was addressing immigration and the issue of retaining the workforce in Mexico itself. "Mexico needs to figure out how we deal with the expatriate American community (one million strong) in Mexico, for example work to certify Mexican doctors in the U.S. so that U.S. retirees can receive deserved healthcare in Mexico," said Sarukhan

He mentioned that the decline in the new young labor force that migrates to the U.S. is a problem as well as tackling the challenge of immigration. Sarukhan said, "Immigration is one of the most vexing and divisive issues in America and Mexico and the U.S. must work together. For Mexico, we have to be able to grow in a way that we anchor and keep women and men in the labor force, who are instead migrating to the U.S. But at the same time, we need an immigration system in the U.S. that makes sense. A system that provides flexibility in the labor movement, where willing business and employees are matched up with workers."

On the negative stigma that immigrants from Mexico receive in the U.S., the Ambassador was quick to point out, "Illegal immigrants in the U.S. may have broken the law, but they are not a threat to the U.S. Their hard work is reviving cities and bringing vitality to old city centers and bring a richness to social and cultural life, but these are old challenges that we still face."

On the issue of the H1N1 virus, the Ambassador used the recent crisis as an example of how new challenges bring countries together and by effectively and strategically informing the public, citizens on both sides of the border can solve a common problem.

"Mexico now sits on the UN Security Council because for a country like Mexico, there is only one recipe for the global stage, you are either at the table or on the menu. The only way Mexico will be at the table is to take on some of the common global challenges, whether its environmental change, terrorism, or nuclear proliferation, these are some unique challenges that the U.S. and Mexico face together. Ladies and Gentlemen, the challenge of the day is whether Mexico and the U.S. can stop playing checkers and start playing chess. Today, the mayors play and will continue to play, a critical role in our joint societies and remain stakeholders with one another."