Those doors opened Tuesday morning. His last visit was in July, when former President López Obrador received a delegation of congressmen.
The uncomfortable question came in the voice of a reporter: “How do you feel about the new communication guidelines with the government?” “He told them later. Thank you,” he said as he hurried through the corridors of the National Palace.
To “order” the relationship, Claudia Sheinbaum’s government issued new communication regulations with the representative of the United States government.
“A series of, let’s say, general guidelines were established, because sometimes the ambassador usually calls a secretary, another secretary, another secretary. So now we told him: ‘Well, if you want to discuss any issue related to the Ministry of Energy because there are American businessmen interested in investing and want to know the availability, then through the Foreign Ministry.’ These were some of the guidelines that were established yesterday and that orders the relationship in a very important way,” is how President Claudia Sheinbaum described the new measures last Friday, October 11.
A relationship in tension
Verónica Ortiz, lawyer, political analyst and former general director of the Mexican Council of International Affairs (Comexi), considers that these new guidelines are a reflection that the relationship between Mexico and the United States is not going through its best moment.
“The bilateral relationship is going through a moment of tension. The relationship with Ambassador Ken Salazar was very good and very close to President López Obrador, perhaps too close judging by comments, which even turned into unconditional support, he seemed to belong to López Obrador’s cabinet because he frequently entered the National Palace , he almost had the right to handle the door, and he also defended the positions of President López Obrador,” the analyst recalls.
The American newspaper The New York Times revealed in 2022 that the United States government was concerned about the closeness of its ambassador to López Obrador.
“Within the government there is growing concern that, in the process of rapprochement, the ambassador has risked American interests and has not used the relationship to advance policies when Biden needs it most,” the newspaper published based on interviews with more than a dozen current and former officials and analysts.
(Photo: Presidency/AFP)
Norma Soto Castañeda, a postgraduate specialist at the La Salle University Business School, considers that these new guidelines, although they imply limitations in bilateral communication, could attempt to prevent the owner’s statements from affecting the relationship as has happened especially in recent years. months of the previous government.
“Perhaps he is leaving this situation to Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente, that he be in charge of the relationship with Ambassador Ken Salazar so that there is mutual understanding between the two diplomats. The doctor does not have optimal knowledge of diplomacy in Mexico, so perhaps she leaves it for the specialists to talk among themselves and that can favor relations and not provoke a speech, as President AMLO had said, which generated tensions and problems “, he says.
