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| Obama's smile disappeared in the joint press conference, after the private meeting Photo: Octavio Hoyos |
Milenio: Víctor Hugo Michel
Mexico City • From admiration for Felipe Calderón's valor in combating drug trafficking to dry recognition of the reformist zeal of Enrique Peña Nieto. From one administration to another, Barack Obama has gone from praise to restraint. He has not lost the propensity to use adjectives when speaking about Mexican presidents. But along the way he seems to have lost the smile usually reserved for close friends.
The official photo of the Presidents taken before they began two hours of private discussions marks the moment well. The leaders pose for the camera in the Presidential Office. It's a routine pose with the bookshelf and desk in the background. In front, Peña and Obama. The United States President almost envelopes in his big, basketball player's hand the much smaller hand of the Mexican, whom he towers over by nearly half a head. From the top, it's all teeth. He shows his enormous, perfectly aligned white incisors, framed by well cared for canines. Good dental vibe.
Two hours later the gesture is gone. The images from the press conference show his face serious, looking out of the corner of his eye toward the podium at his left. The grim expression is matched by Peña Nieto, who looks to his right with some suspicion. There is evidence of tension between the two. The camaraderie with Calderón--ally, an accomplice--remains only a memory, replaced by a cold distance wrapped in what passes for cordiality.
Two hours later the gesture is gone. The images from the press conference show his face serious, looking out of the corner of his eye toward the podium at his left. The grim expression is matched by Peña Nieto, who looks to his right with some suspicion. There is evidence of tension between the two. The camaraderie with Calderón--ally, an accomplice--remains only a memory, replaced by a cold distance wrapped in what passes for cordiality.
The second image suggests that something happened in those private discussions, in which the issue of security (new sanitized term that has replaced the drug war) was central, although every effort was made to make clear that it was not the only one and that the relationship has entered the multi-issue realm after years of being the opposite.
The question about what happened and what was said at the private meeting between the two presidents and their delegations can be cleared up with a phrase uttered by Peña Nieto during the joint press conference. Regarding cooperation with the United States, [Peña Nieto declared]
The question about what happened and what was said at the private meeting between the two presidents and their delegations can be cleared up with a phrase uttered by Peña Nieto during the joint press conference. Regarding cooperation with the United States, [Peña Nieto declared]
"beginning with a new strategy by which we have sought to arrange, institutionalize, and establish clear, single channels for this cooperation to enable us to achieve our goal of being more effective and achieving better results."
The key is the opposite of what was said at the National Palace. If you are going to arrange cooperation with Washington agencies, it means that the relationship has been untidy. If you are going to institutionalize, then it has been chaotic. If you are looking to be more effective, then earlier efforts were not. If you are going to establish a single communication channel, then there were many that should not have been.
That is, if the CIA, the Pentagon and the DEA want to talk to someone, they will do so through SEGOB [Secretariat of Government Affairs]. They will pass through the reception desks of Bucareli [SEGOB's headquarters]. Because the Army, the Navy, the CISEN and the Federal Police have been closed to them. A clear indication was that none of the heads [of those entities] was present yesterday at the National Palace. They were not allowed to stand in front of the U.S. delegation.
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The last time a PRI government confronted a U.S. President dates back to 1997. And even then they did not like it. It was during the administration of Bill Clinton, when he came to meet with Ernesto Zedillo and his cabinet in what was perhaps the worst moment of the bilateral relationship in many years.
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The last time a PRI government confronted a U.S. President dates back to 1997. And even then they did not like it. It was during the administration of Bill Clinton, when he came to meet with Ernesto Zedillo and his cabinet in what was perhaps the worst moment of the bilateral relationship in many years.
Months earlier, the allegedly incorruptible anti-drug czar, Jesús Gutiérrez Rebollo, had been arrested for working for "The Lord of the Heavens". Washington slipped onto the table the idea of "wire tapping" to make tests of the trustworthiness of the Attorney General of the Republic, to which Zedillo answered, "That's ridiculous!"
In parallel, the State Department threatened to de-certify Mexico as a preferred partner on grounds that its counter-narcotics efforts were insufficient. In Congress there were those who demanded direct intervention. And from Washington came the request that DEA agents be able to carry weapons to defend themselves in Mexican territory. I mean, nothing very different from what is happening today.
In parallel, the State Department threatened to de-certify Mexico as a preferred partner on grounds that its counter-narcotics efforts were insufficient. In Congress there were those who demanded direct intervention. And from Washington came the request that DEA agents be able to carry weapons to defend themselves in Mexican territory. I mean, nothing very different from what is happening today.
But the distrust has a history. Some of the actors who then felt the weight of Washington remain. Emilio Chuayfett was secretary of Government Affairs [SEGOB]. Manlio Fabio Beltrones [now head of PRI in the Chamber of Deputies] was governor of Sonora and fought against accusations published in the New York Times for allegedly collaborating with drug traffickers. Pedro Joaquín Coldwell [now Secretary of Energy, i.e., oil] was secretary general of the PRI. Ildefonso Guajardo [now Secretary of the Economy] was senior officer of the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs. Jesús Murillo Karam [now Attorney General] was governor of Hidalgo, where a young Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong [now Secretary of Government Affairs] quickly climbed the ladder.
A generation marked by a prickly relationship. And now, fifteen years later, it returns to meet face to face with the gringos.
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The joint press conference lasted just over half an hour. What was not said is extracted by reading between the lines. The Mérida Initiative, the cornerstone of cooperation between Mexico and the United States during the six-year Calderón Presidency, was not mentioned once.
A generation marked by a prickly relationship. And now, fifteen years later, it returns to meet face to face with the gringos.
***
The joint press conference lasted just over half an hour. What was not said is extracted by reading between the lines. The Mérida Initiative, the cornerstone of cooperation between Mexico and the United States during the six-year Calderón Presidency, was not mentioned once.
Obama gave two nods to what appears to be the new reality. First:
"It depends on Mexicans to determine their security structures."
The second was related to the past:
"We had a wonderful relationship with President Calderón."If this presidential visit to Mexico could be made into a musical and if it had a soundtrack, perhaps "You've Lost That Lovin 'Feeling" by the Righteous Brothers would work well. Spanish original