Ambassador Gerónimo Gutiérrez Fernández served as the Mexican Ambassador to the United States from 2017-2018. He is a believer in fostering a strong relationship between the United States and Mexico. He is currently working to develop infrastructure in Latin America.
Neha Mukherjee and Shilpa Sajja: What were your day to day tasks as an ambassador?
Ambassador Gutierrez Fernandez: One of the most important tasks is learning how to establish limits and when to differ clearly and intelligently. Some people have referred to the U.S.-Mexico relationship as a marriage: it is good, but it needs a lot of work and is not always easy.
NM & SS: How did President Trump’s rhetoric about Mexican people affect your work as ambassador?
Ambassador: President Trump made a lot of public expressions about Mexico and Mexicans in general that I would just simply beg to differ from. They do not reflect what Mexico is, and they do not reflect what Mexicans are. Like any country, Mexico has challenges and has shortcomings, but the vast majority of Mexicans that come to the United States or live in the United States offer a great contribution to the economy.
[In terms of rhetoric], twitter diplomacy is new not only for Mexico but for the world. Nevertheless, we try to stay the course in the relationship and establish very clear limits with the Trump administration. After two years I would say that we have a much more stable situation as compared to the one we had in early 2017.
NM & SS: How has the trade relationship between the U.S. and Mexico been impacted by the Trump administration?
Ambassador: Well, as you know, we started negotiations to update and modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement. The new treaty, the USMCA, and its ratification are extremely important because at a time when there is a worldwide backlash against free trade, I think that the USMCA will be beneficial. Furthermore, in the world context, it will prove that trade is the right way to go, as long as we make every effort to ensure that said trade benefits everybody. All the countries that are involved have tried to make sure that the benefits of the trade agreement are really shared by everybody, and that’s not easy.
NM & SS: What do you see as the future of the trading relationship between the U.S. and Mexico, especially with the upcoming election?
Ambassador: Well, something very interesting happened. As you know, there was a change in government in Mexico, so there’s a new administration that has been in office for almost a year now in Mexico. From a political point of view, the new administration is much more left of the yard than the previous administrations. Nevertheless, during the transition, the new administration and our administration saw very much eyeball to eyeball on the importance of the trading relationship and actually worked together during the negotiation, so the new government has continued to support trade with the United States. On the U.S. side, President Trump has, in my view, pretty much committed to getting the USMCA approved. If that happens, what we will see is a very significant growth in trade and investment flows.
In terms of the U.S. election, I think what’s positive so far is that in some way or another all the candidates have recognized that there’s a need for comprehensive immigration reform. That’s something that the U.S. should process, and Mexico should be respectful of that.
NM & SS: What you think is driving the number of border crossings from Mexico to the US?
Ambassador: Border crossings are a centuries-old phenomenon, which grew rapidly during the 70s and 80s. It is a result of the poor economic performance on the part of Mexico. However, beginning in 2000, the number of Mexicans trying to cross the border undocumented has been consistently declining, at least until very recently. And why is that? You know, there’s certainly an issue of increased enforcement on the part of the United States, but there is also the fact that people are finding better conditions in Mexico. What has also changed is that Mexico is receiving a lot more people from Central America, who hope to eventually cross into the United States. Both the U.S. and Mexican governments, along with Central American countries, are trying to address this situation.
NM & SS: How did your role as an ambassador affect your view of the world?
Ambassador: It gives you a lot of perspective on world affairs. For one you meet all kinds of people like ambassadors from other countries with whom you share views on common problems or on what is going on worldwide. The other thing is that Washington is a power center, and it will continue to be a power center as it has representatives from 180 countries. Your daily interactions in Washington help you get perspective.
NM & SS: Is there anything that you want students to know?
Ambassador: It is always refreshing to interact with college students. I want to know what they think, where they’re going, and what their main concerns are. Universities and young people will be the change in the future.