Mexican-Cuban relations, in a wonderful moment, 20 years after “Comes y te vas”

Havana. – Relationships between Mexico And the Cuba They are having a good moment, reinforced by the visit of the Mexican President in May to Havana, Andres Manuel Lopez Workshop20 years after the accident, “eat and go”one of the biggest recent bilateral crises.

Cuban President at that time Fidel CastroAnd the Who died in 2016, shocked attendees at the Extraordinary Summit of the Americas, in the Mexican city of Monterrey, when he made his surprising announcement.

In his first and last speech during the event from March 18 to 22, 2002, Castro lamented “I beg you all to pardon me for not being able to continue accompanying you, due to the special situation my participation has created.” .

Months later, in April 2002, the ousted government broadcast a telephone conversation between the president Vincent Fox (from the conservative National Action Party PAN) and Castro before the March summit at which it was explained.

“As soon as the event and participation are over, let us say, you return (…) and that you set me free, and that is the request I make to you, on Friday, so that you will not tie me up,” asked Fox Castro on the call.

The day after Castro’s farewell speech (Thursday), there will be a banquet among heads of state attended by the American president. George W. Bushthe guest that Fox didn’t want to meet with Cuban.

In a juggling attempt to avoid confrontation, President Castro invited him to sit next to him for lunch before leaving. Thus, the controversy “Eat and go.”

He asserts again “I have not found any alternative to the existing alternative, we must take into account the combination of factors”. Jorge CastanedaMexican Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2000 to 2003, in a telephone interview with EFE.

deteriorating since the 1990s

Castañeda insists that ties were already severed during his presidency Ernest Zedillo (1994-2000) Institutional Revolutionary Party (IRP)PRI), who even called for democracy on the island.

The escalation continued when the ousted leader criticized Mexico in 1998 for being attuned to “theImperialism” American They criticized that Mexicans know “Mickey Mouse more than their heroes”.

Two years after “comes y te vas”, in 2004, Fox expelled the Cuban diplomatic representative and withdrew its ambassador to the island for about three months.

Read also: About AMLO’s visit to Cuba: “It is always a pleasure to receive the brothers from the great homeland.”

“It was poorly executed,” he told Efe, “there was arrogance on the part of the Mexican government. They could have done it another way to negotiate with Fidel, but they didn’t care.” Daizo Lopez de LarraProfessor, Department of International Relations, University of the Americas, Puebla (udlap).

for cuban Rafael Rojasa professor at the Center for Historical Studies at the Colegio de México, the Fox administration lacked “experience” in its dealings with Castro.

“They didn’t notice the build-up of annoyance, discord and anger in Cuba about Mexico’s position (in the Zedillo years),” he says.

Havana had already expressed disappointment with Mexico’s vote against the island at the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland, during the Fox years, and Castaneda stresses that “this led to a rift in the relationship.”

Melting with Peña Nieto

Experts agree that once the Fox government ended, “Operation Scar” began. Felipe Calderonalso from PAN (2006-2012), which verified with Enrique Pena Nieto (From PRI, 2012-2018).

In 2015, Cuba and Mexico announced the “re-launch” of their bilateral relations.

In addition, Peña Nieto visited the island – accompanied by Raul Castro At the head of the government – in the same year he held a special meeting with Fidel.

Read also: Castro dynasty, Cuba’s “fifths”

In this way, the two nations resumed the special bond they had maintained since the victory 1959 revolution Mexico was the only Latin American country that did not sever ties with Havana after the 1962 missile crisis.

“If you review the history of the relationship, it has always been a pendulum and more political than economic,” he asserted in an interview with Efe by Zoom. Maria Cristina Rosasfrom the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

According to 2019 data from the island’s National Bureau of Statistics and Information (just me), Mexico is among Havana’s ten major trading partners, but is far from other economies such as Venezuela, China, Spain and Canada.

Lopez Obrador’s approach

Analysts confirm that the state of relations is going through a beautiful moment since the leftist came to power in 2018. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Mexican President called Miguel Diaz–channel to the Independence Day celebration in September, where he called for an end to the American blockade of the island.

In the context of the migration crisis, the Mexican president announced a visit to Cuba next May.

According to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from the United States, in the past five months, 47,331 Cubans have entered the North American country irregularly.

As an introduction to the journey of López Obrador, a delegation of his formation, the Movement for National Regeneration (Brown woman), arrived on the island last week to meet the government and authorities of the Communist Party.

Read also: Settali Hernandez leads an official tour of Cuba by Morena’s delegation

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