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México and Mercosur: A Trojan Horse?
Laura Carlsen - 1/12/2006
Mexico's absence was noted in the most recent meeting of Mercosur. Neither President Vicente Fox nor Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Derbez, invited to represent the second-largest economy in the region, attended the event in Montevideo, citing previous commitments. For many observers, the real reason they left the duty to the Mexican Ambassador to Uruguay was to avoid the obligation to congratulate Venezuela and President Hugo Chavez on its induction as a member of Mercosur. Mexico and Venezuela mutually withdrew their ambassadors in November due to a difficult ‘conflict of ideas' resulting from the Fouth Summit of the Americas in Mar del Plata. Test

The President and Chancellor of Mexico were invited as observers to the Mercosur Summit. Mexico presented its formal application for addition to Mercosur as an Associated Nation at the summit in Puerto Iguazú in July 2004. However, the follow up on the application was weak, showing Mexico's vision of a future more based upon their northern relationships as part of NAFTA.

The 2005 Summit of the Americas in Mar del Plata, Argentina, highlighted the distances between Mexico (faithful promoter of the U.S. proposal for the creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas) and the countries of Mercosur, who rejected the proposal to put the FTAA on the Summit's agenda.

Despite the differences exposed at the Summit, a day later President Fox expressed his peculiar version of the relationship, declaring, “My love for these agreements is complete and encompassing, Mercosur and the FTAA... and I will continue to pursue and to love them.� Mexico has signed free trade agreements with 42 countries, but this market promiscuity has had little benefit for the Aztec-rooted country, which has shown a negative balance of trade in the last seven straight years.

In a letter addressed to the Uruguayan President on December 2nd, the Mexican government emphasized its desire to be integrated into Mercosur, saying that “Mexico wants to be a part of the integration efforts that Mercosur promotes.� It emphasizes the need to create economies of scale, as a result of its own incorporation, “Mexico's participation as an Associated Nation of Mercosur will contribute to the strengthening of Latin America and its positioning on the international market.� Also mentioned was that “an important step in the process of Mexico's association with Mercosur consists of reinforcing political dialogue oriented at democratic consolidation.� Mexico openly expresses its desire to participate in Mercosur's Forum on Consultation and Political Agreement.

These two goals (participation in the political decisions made by the block as well as forging a larger commercial block) raise many questions. What is Mexico looking for with its integration into Mercosur? After its role in the Fourth Summit, some see Mexico's insistence on democracy as another attempt to promote the U.S. agenda and new campaign to connect ‘liberty' with free trade and attacks on countries that do not share its world vision (most of all Venezuela) for the south. On the other hand, Mexico's persistence in promoting commercial blocks with leanings towards massive global trade liberalization contradict some versions of the plans of Mercosur, which lean towards national and regional economic strengthening as a basis to improve competitiveness on the world market.

Perhaps it is an exaggeration to say that Mexico is a Trojan horse presented to Mercosur representing U.S. interests. However, without a doubt their application pushes a model of economic integration that is important to evaluate carefully. Before leaning more towards NAFTA, Mercosur has the task of refining its own criteria in order to redefine a new integration strategy that today does not seem to have found its new course.
Laura Carlsen directs the Americas Program of the International Relations Center.