Little is set to change in North American relations, over a week after President Calderón hosted President Obama and Prime Minister Harper. Many press accounts acknowledge this, some arguing that the leaders opted “to punt” on the difficult issues. The summit’s failure to produce meaningful change is hardly surprising.
In fact, the mundane outcome is reflective of disjointed interests, some of which are best suited for a bilateral forum. Mexico is aggrieved because of recent visa requirements imposed on its citizens visiting Canada. President Calderón is also trying to wrangle monies from the US in order to address its drug-fueled violence, as provided for in the Merida Initiative, but Washington is hesitating to release the funds for fear of human rights abuses by Mexican forces. On the trade front, the US has been dragging its feet on permitting Mexican trucks to commute on US highways, a provision agreed to in the NAFTA.
Other issues require a broader international response. H1N1 has swept the globe, beckoning attention from a wider array of leaders than those in North America. At the highest level, the only good the “three amigos” can do is make joint statements that they will not resort to silliness, such as sealing off borders or the like, in combating the pandemic.
Truth be told, the recent summit was poorly timed. The global recession and domestic issues have bogged down each leader, so they were not meeting in Guadalajara with much energy. For serious headway on the prickly issues they jointly face, the US economy will have to recover first. Crisis management requires triage. And so while much has happened in Mexico of late, not much has changed.