US and China shocked to find Mexico an independent nation

More often than not, Sheinbaum’s government is working on logic that goes beyond greater power geo-politics.

Two unrelated news reports from outlets on opposite ends of the world—one from China, the other from the US—were published in the last week revealing the same fatal ignorance about Mexico.

One documented a Biden-era list of alleged Russian spies. The article accused Mexico of “letting them stay.” The other piece reported on Chinese displeasure after the approval of 50% tariffs on countries that Mexico does not have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with. This article accused Mexico of kowtowing to the US.

Both were based on a problematic set of assumptions that seem to plague outsider analysis on Mexico. Their theorising as to what motivates Mexico’s actions is more often than not based on their own external geopolitical prejudices. In both cases, the domestic political economy of Mexico was a far more important force in driving the decisions of the Sheinbaum administration.