Mexico, the United States and the War in Iraq

Abstract

Until the early 1980s, Mexico was a closed economy and a one party state. Mexican foreign policy was intensely nationalistic. Anti-American sentiment prevailed. Subsequently, and especially after the opening of the negotiations in 1991 that led to the inclusion of Mexico in NAFTA, both countries became close commercial allies. But over Iraq, at the UN, Mexico voted against the United States. Mexican public opinion, always suspicious of the American government, was galvanized by the invasion of Iraq. The rise in the level of anti-American sentiment reflects a deep-seated lack of trust in and fear of the superpower.