The Alliance is from the Pacific, not from populists

The possible cancellation of the Pacific Alliance summit would be a major mistake on the part of the Mexican government.

President López Obrador would be interfering in the internal affairs of Peru, but he would also be weakening the founding principle of the Pacific Alliance: the depoliticization of the mechanism.

Another mistake of the Mexican politician would be the political coercion on Chile and Colombia, member countries of the mechanism that are not to blame for what happens between Peruvian political powers. Mexico does not own the Pacific Alliance.

The Peruvian congress is dominated by parties opposed to President Pedro Castillo, and it has also been the headache of recent leaders such as Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Martín Vizcarra. In reality, it has been Congress that has concentrated power in the last decade and it is the one that has applied the article of the Constitution that opens the door for presidents to abandon power: the presidential vacancy process.

Finally, the cancellation of the summit would be a replica of AMLO’s boycott of the Summit of the Americas held in Los Angeles. This type of action is reminiscent of the behavior of countries like the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

At present, the summits are the appropriate spaces to externalize differences between countries. AMLO did not attend Los Angeles in response to the United States for not having invited representatives of Latin American dictatorships.

It must be remembered that the Pacific Alliance was the first anti-populist and anti-demagogic mechanism in the region. It was born in April 2011 with a focus on commercial integration between Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Peru, and with a clear objective: to distance itself from Chavismo, that is, from the contamination of the populist dogma that destroys free trade.

It seems that President AMLO wants to change the founding objectives of the Pacific Alliance. If he were to cancel the summit, the mechanism would be tainted by dogma.

In December 2021, President López Obrador sent Treasury Secretary Rogelio Ramírez de la O to Lima. Pedro Castillo had been in charge of the presidency for six months and the instability of his government put him at risk. Peruvian journalist Diego Salazar published in The Washington Post that Ramírez de la O explained social programs such as Sembrando vida to Peruvians. Similarly, the Mexican government recommended a communication strategy against the Peruvian media.

Mexican foreign policy continues in full degradation. The worst thing for the Pacific Alliance would be to be contaminated with political dogmas. At that time, its raison d’être would change to populist tones.

@faustopretelin