The team «LAСRUS» decided to analyze the Russian vector of the foreign policy of the Latin American state and to identify the main mechanisms of interaction between Russia and Mexico. Today, the Russian side maintains “warm” relations with Mexico, which include trade, investment in the development of advanced technologies and increasingly close cooperation in such international organizations and associations as the United Nations, the G20 and the Asia-Pacific economic cooperation (APEC). As the new Mexican leader has repeatedly pointed out during the election race, this is only the beginning of the future “strong” union.
Due to the proximity and immediate land border with the United States, and also because of the left orientation of the ruling Mexican Institutional Revolutionary Party during the Cold War, Mexico was an important geostrategic partner for the USSR. In 1973, the President of Mexico, Luis Echeverría Álvarez, became the first Mexican and non-Communist president to make an official visit to the USSR. In 1978, during the official visit of President José López Portillo, the two states signed the Treaty “On the prohibition of the testing, use, production and purchase of nuclear weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean”.
Despite the fact that the trade exchange between the two countries is not so significant, Russia and Mexico recognize the important advantages of their union. The “sharp” conflicts between Russia and the Trump administration, and now the White House’s outright hostility towards Mexico and its new leader from the “left” wing, opened up many opportunities to strengthen the strategic alliance between Moscow and Mexico City. Judging by how much attention the Russian media are paying to the elected president of Mexico, Moscow sees a potential ally in López Obrador primarily because of his anti-American views. This alignment of forces is seen by many political analysts as very natural. The harsh and hostile stance that Trump has taken on Mexico since the first day of his presidency, bilateral ties of the once main trading partners are crumbling, and the elected Mexican government intends to look for new alternatives.
After the US and the EU imposed sanctions and thereby “slammed the door” to Russia, the Russian government has already appealed to other international actors. That is why Mexico, the second largest country in Latin America, is very attractive for Russia. As many experts believe, Mexico can become a key Russian partner in the Western Hemisphere at the border with the United States. Mutual interests can help expand and strengthen ties between the two states. However, the White House is already aware that in this alignment of forces, the only loser will be Washington. But regardless of the United States, with the arrival of López Obrador, the Russian-Mexican relations should move to a higher level, and thus once again confirm the multipolarity of international relations.