Monday, July 18, 2016

LatAm in Focus: The Intertwined Nature of U.S.-Mexico Ties

By Carin Zissis

“Nowadays we cannot talk of the Mexican economy and the American economy separately,” says Diego Gómez Pickering, the new Mexican consul general in New York.

</p> <div class="wrapper" style="width: 100%;"> <table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" style="width: 30%;"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p style="text-align: center;"><em><b style="font-size: 20px;"><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/DiegoGomezPickering.jpg" style="width: 100%; height: 100%;" /></b></em></p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> <p>With 50 consulates in the United States, Mexico has the world’s largest consular network that exists in another country. That’s a strong diplomatic presence at a time when, as the new Mexican consul general in New York puts it, there’s “a lot of misinformation going around” about Mexico as part and parcel of the U.S. election. Diego Gómez Pickering spoke with AS/COA Online’s Carin Zissis about the message that consular network is working to get across to the general U.S. public about the intertwined nature of bilateral ties. “Nowadays we cannot talk of the Mexican economy and the American economy separately,” he says. “If jobs are lost here, jobs are lost in Mexico. If we create jobs in Mexico, jobs are created here in the United States.”</p> <div class="wrapper" style="width: 100%;"> <table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" style="width: 40%;"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p style="text-align: center;"> </p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em><b style="font-size: 20px;">"What we want to do is improve the living conditions of people in Nebraska or in the Yucatan because, despite what we might think, they are very linked." </b></em></p> <p style="text-align: center;"> </p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> <p>For the consul general, who recently relocated to New York after serving as Mexican ambassador to the UK, one of the more overlooked aspects of the narrative is the fact that 35 million Americans—over 10 percent of the U.S. population—are citizens of Mexican origin. Among them are people shortlisted for Nobel prizes, Oscar winners, scholars, and veterans. “They make American society culturally rich and dynamic,” says Gómez Pickering. He also points out that, in recent years, more Mexicans are returning to Mexico than migrating to the United States, adding: “This is very positive in the sense that on the one hand these people are not only Mexican, but in most cases they are American as well—they are binational, and they represent the best of both countries."</p> <hr /> <ul> <li><strong>Enjoy this podcast? <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/latin-america-in-focus/id1089353175" target="_blank">Subscribe to Latin America in Focus on iTunes</a>!</strong></li> <li><a href="http://www.as-coa.org/articles/weekly-chart-separating-fact-and-fiction-us-views-mexico"><strong>Infographic: Separating Fact and Fiction in U.S. Views of Mexico</strong></a></li> </ul> <hr />

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LatAm in Focus: The Intertwined Nature of U.S.-Mexico Ties

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