Andrés Manuel López Obrador, his wife, Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller, and his propaganda chief, Jesús Ramírez Cuevas, were convinced since the end of last year that he would become the leader of Latin America after the end of his presidency. Where did you get this idea? Of the dreams of greatness that fed his authoritative ego. López Obrador wanted to be the moral and political guide of the region without doing anything important or transcendent for it.
In Central America, giving away trees was inappropriate, even if it was demagogued to the contrary. He isolated himself by staying away from major international meetings – the G-20, the UN General Assembly or regional summits – and hid his complexes that he had more important things to do in Mexico. Pyrrhic and absurd battles, such as the demand for Spain's pardon for the colony, or the fight with Austria for the famous block of Montezuma, which there is no evidence of having belonged to the Aztec emperor, were not done seriously, but rather seemed like banana politics. .
Appoint ambassadors to get rid of them, not to fit the right profile – like Esteban Moctezuma in Washington; catering to family whims – like Josefa González Blanco in the UK or Blanca Jiménez in France – or being protected by the presidential family – like Eduardo Villegas in Russia – was a sign of the little interest López Obrador showed in his relations with the world. His ignorance and conceptual limitations in international affairs, and his reliance on a small group of incompetents to give him foreign policy advice, kept him in a fishbowl where he saw only himself.
López Obrador will never be the leader of anything outside of Mexico, nor will he be recognized as he deserves. There are references in the foreign press, where he is ridiculed for what they consider to be irrational or extravagant actions, and recent criticisms of some of his constitutional reforms, which are seen as deep indictments of democracy, and paint his autocratic tendencies as undeserved. no respect, much less admiration. The problem is that it doesn't stay with him in Palenque, but rather affects Mexico's image and drags his successor, Claudia Sheinbaum, down with him.
Symptoms of Mexico's loss of influence in the world are evident in the guest list for the inauguration of our first president. Quantitatively, the response to the call was very weak. They have extended the invitation to 208 dignitaries – the presidents of Peru and Ecuador have been excluded, although this is understandable because they do not have diplomatic relations with President Daniel Noboa – and so far only 16 leaders have been confirmed. It also leaves a lot to be desired in terms of quality.
North American trading partners showed disdain. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not confirmed it, nor has anyone in his government. The President of the United States – who never attends an inauguration in the world – Joe Biden sends only his wife Jill, unlike López Obrador's inauguration, when his daughter attended on behalf of President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence Enrique Peña Nieto, where the White House representative was Vice President Biden. Not a single European head of state or government was confirmed, and the absence of King Philip of Spain stands out, as this monarchy was present at every inauguration of the century.
The president of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo, and the prime minister of Belize, John Briceño, the other two countries that border Mexico, as well as the president of Cuba, the strategic border with Mexico, Miguel Díaz, have confirmed their participation. -Canel, maintaining the practice of Cuban leaders who, since Fidel Castro, who attended the inauguration of Carlos Salinas, usually attend the ceremony.
None of the leaders of the G-20 member states, which comprise the world's 20 most powerful economies, have confirmed their participation, with the exception of Brazil's Luis Inazio Lula da Silva, Gabriel Boric and Gustavo. Petro, president of Chile and Colombia, has no other dignity than the 38 members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. From the other large international bloc belonging to Mexico, OPEC+, only the president of Libya, Mohamed Yunos Al-Menfi, announced his presence.
Among the confirmations are those belonging to López Obrador's ideological axis, Xiomara Castro, President of Honduras, and Luis Alberto Arce, of Bolivia, as well as some dignitaries who accepted Sheinbaum's diplomatic courtesy, but without much weight in Mexican geopolitics, Dominica's Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit and The Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Philip Joseph Pierre, and the Presidential Adviser to the Haitian Presidential Council, Régine Abraham, but without the leader of the Caribbean community who could have given that region another dimension.
Sheinbaum's office said in a statement that four additional vice presidents and 17 secretaries of state and heads of international organizations, whose names were not released because they are in the confirmation process, are expected to join.
The list is weak in number and strategic quality, which is surprising given the huge interest generated by the election victory of Sheinbaum, who became the first female president of the world's most important trade bloc. So far, there doesn't appear to be much interest in developing a relationship with it, and it doesn't reflect the scant interest it has shown so far, nor that Mexico carries political weight despite being the world's 12th largest economy.
López Obrador achieves another transcendental effect against Sheinbaum by becoming an indispensable leader to the world and tarnishing his image before taking office. There are 11 days left until the ceremony, but time is running out for your team to confirm leaders with presence and influence at the international concert, because you need to shed your burdens and start on your own, with no strings attached.