Yearly Archives: 2021

  Mexico Today –  April  26 , 2021 Luis Rubio For years, Mexican citizens have been disenchanted with politics. First, economic reforms in the late 1980s were supposed to restore Mexico’s capacity to grow, and then the arrival of democracy around 2000 was supposed to curb corruption and bring Mexican politicians –allegedly the people’s representatives- closer to […]

 Mexico Institute By  Luis Rubio    “All politics are local,” Tip O’Neil famously quipped. In Mexico, all politics today are about elections and especially about the midterms of June 6. From his inauguration, President López Obrador turned this election into a referendum of himself; in fact, he wanted to be on the ballot by creating a new […]

Mexico Today –  April  15 , 2021 Luis Rubio  Inequality is a structural feature of Mexico: social background, geographical location, and the environment have built an uneven playing field since ancestral times. Mexico is not unique in having inherited a social structure and an orography that create unequal sociopolitical and economic conditions. Where Mexico does stand […]

Mexico Today –  April  7 , 2021 Luis Rubio   China has become a topic of endless debate: Will China replace the United States as the next superpower? Is China’s trademark authoritarianism superior to democracy? Is China’s seemingly unstoppable economic pace sustainable? These are all relevant questions. The attempts to answer them and define future scenarios […]

Mexico Today –  March 30 , 2021 Luis Rubio  When divorce is out of the question, the two parties have to find a way to compromise. That’s been the logic that Mexico and the United States have followed regarding their shared border. A mere glance around the world proves there are much worse alternatives. Nevertheless, everything […]

Mexico Today –  March  24, 2021 Luis Rubio *In solidarity with José Ramón Cossio An old joke goes like this: a candidate offers constituents a choice of heaven or hell. The voter first visits heaven, finding everything calm and in order. Then he goes to hell, where he finds manicured gardens, tables full of mouthwatering dishes, […]

Mexico Today – March 17, 2021  The current moment in Mexico’s can be summed up in a tweet published last week: “President (Andrés Manuel López Obrador) prepared himself more thoroughly for (confronting the March 8) women’s march than for the (Covid-19) vaccine rollout”. López Obrador’s decision to build a formidable protective wall around Mexico’s National Palace […]

Mexico Today –  March  10, 2021 Observers and scholars of Mexican transition to democracy hold two views. One maintains that the transition ended the day when fair and contested elections were held in the late 1990s, allowing a peaceful transfer of power in the year 2000. The other argues that the Mexican political system has not […]

Luis Rubio Mexico Today –  March 02 , 2021  The U.S. establishment managed to turn the Covid-19 pandemic into yet another point of contention and polarization. The issue joins a myriad of divisive factors that over the last decade and a half produced three polar opposite administrations: Obama’s, Trump’s, and now Biden’s. Where there is practically […]

Mexico Today – March 01,  2021  Undoubtedly, each government forges its own history, some due to their achievements, others because of their dogmatism. If something characterizes the current Mexican government, it’s its absolute lack of ability (or willingness) to learn. Since it arrived in power in December 2018, the López Obrador administration’s script has been absolute […]