Change & The Future

This editorial by Luis Linares Zapata appeared in the July 23, 2025 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left-wing daily newspaper.

The barrage of restrictive measures from Mexico’s northern neighbor has had varied domestic consequences. Most have been seen as aggression, punishment, or simply punitive. Others may have been intimidating measures aimed at seeking subsequent lateral concessions.

The fact is that this downpour has caused confusion in the country’s decision-making echelons. While the deadlines imposed with an arbitrary arrogance approach, anxiety turns into harmful uncertainty. And, in this tone of forced maneuvers of various kinds, the time spanning the two newly installed governments has passed.

Sometimes the [proposed] severe hardships have been softened. Other times, the resulting conditions or the alleged causes have been left hanging. The truth is that this struggle has continued long enough to give way to more far-reaching reflections.

The depth of the change experienced in such a short space of time cannot be ignored. It invites, with the urgency of an exercise in interpretation and research that goes beyond these critical moments. While negotiations are underway, it becomes essential to arm ourselves with visions, means, and timescales that illuminate new scenarios. Even those previously unthinkable.

The relationship with this powerful neighbor has reached rock bottom. Trust has been shattered, and it’s more than prudent to rethink it. This isn’t just about an extravagant figure Trump,, but also about a large and decisive segment of the [American] population. To do so, we must begin by properly analyzing what has made us a dependent nation.

The weaknesses that have been discovered in the present call for rigorous approaches. The relationship between the two nations has reached the point of complete imbalance. President Donald Trump has used his demands with resounding, damaging leverage. President Claudia Sheinbaum’s rehearsed response points, with elaborate precision, to the various negative consequences that would result for the neighbor’s economy or, more broadly, for its own society.

The decision to send the Secretary of Foreign Affairs as an observer to the BRICS bloc meeting in Brazil points to a search for new avenues to connect. It is increasingly clear that it is possible to intelligently address the hows and whens of geopolitical maturation, which is now absent from current work. It is already known that within this group of complementary countries and forces, there are positive and enriching solutions. Facing the dependent present requires us to explore areas and support that have not been tested.

For many years, Mexicans, even with their very feet, have deepened and expanded their interrelationship with their powerful neighbor. All their effort, imagination, and hope have been directed toward greater integration. Much has been achieved, and this integration involves millions of different resources, a spirit of well-being, and committed individuals. But much of this, unfortunately, has now been used against us.

This situation is nothing new, except that, for now, it is carried out with brutal, ruthless, racist, and classist displays. Continuing to tolerate insults and threats does not lead to humane outcomes. This undesirable situation should be used as a starting point for creative and hard-working new efforts. The restrictions imposed on Mexican tomatoes with the new tariffs force us to explore unexplored markets or further industrialization.

The same situation applies to the restrictions on avocados and other agricultural products. Not to mention steel, aluminum, auto parts, electronics, or the highly sought-after shrimp and tuna, as immediate examples. Many resources have been invested in establishing agreements between higher education institutions, only to be restricted by clumsy violence. The truth and proven fact is that there is a growing and massive investment in higher education. This is an indispensable lever for independence.

The longevity of Morena’s decision-making elite will depend on how it responds to the needs of its constituents, to whom it owes itself. The changes in regime we once proposed as necessary to establish a different political model have already been implemented.

Now we need the third step, which will follow the second one being worked on. Many difficulties have been overcome in setting up the legal, cultural, political, and economic framework that has replaced the previous one. Efforts are being made to consolidate these changes and add others. What is not visible is the alternative to North American integration, which is already, with its flaws and merits, a problematic reality.