by Luis Brito
MEXICO CITY, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- The year of 2019 is one of the most complicated in history for the U.S.-Mexico relationship as the United States continued to exert pressure on Mexico on issues concerning the influx of migrants, uncertainty in the bilateral trade deal and lingering cartel violence, experts told Xinhua.
Gustavo Vega, a professor at the Center for International Studies of the College of Mexico (Colmex), said that 2019 has been "the most complicated year" for U.S.-Mexico relationship since the 1980s.
"It's the reality of the geographical neighborhood. We have to seek out mechanisms to resolve the problems that continue to arise," said Vega.
An increase in the number of Central American migrants traveling through Mexico towards the United States almost derailed the bilateral agenda, with daily threats made against the Mexican government by U.S. President Donald Trump, which include closing its southern border if Mexico did not stop the thousands of migrants attempting to enter the country.
As monthly immigration rate in May reached its highest point in a decade and as a result Trump threatened to impose a general tariff on Mexican imports, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador promised to "take unprecedented steps" to increase enforcement to curb irregular migration.
Following an agreement in June, Mexico sent thousands of national guard troops to enforce immigration law across the country, and the flow of migrants diminished, down from 144,000 people detained by the United States to 42,700 people in November, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard announced on Thursday.
However, many of the migrants were either waiting to apply for asylum in the United States or had already applied and been returned by U.S. authorities to Mexico to await the outcome of their case.
Vega said that security is another major issue for the bilateral relationship, due to the violence caused by Mexican drug cartels.
Trump said in late November he would designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, which implies that the United States could deport cartel members and their associates as well as freeze their bank accounts.
As early as March, Trump mentioned the possibility of putting the cartels on the terrorist list. The proposal gained momentum again earlier November, after the massacre of a U.S. Mormon family in north Mexico. The shocking crime saw cartel hitmen slaughter women and children in a hail of bullets.
The government of Lopez Obrador stated that the designation would be tantamount to "interventionism," and it was more necessary to combat weapons trafficking from the United States to Mexico as it feeds organized crime in the country.
Echoing Vega, Guadalupe Gonzalez, associate professor at the Center for International Studies of Colmex, said that 2019 has been "an uncommonly complex" year for the two countries' relations, and the unapproved U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA) in the U.S. Congress has also increased tensions.
The USMCA was signed in November 2018 to replace the former North American Free Trade Agreement, which has been approved by U.S. House of Representatives on Dec. 19, but yet to be ratified by the Senate.
"This has caused uncertainty for the Mexican economy," Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said that Mexico will have to hope that dialogue will ease any tensions that might arise in 2020, as both governments have previously expressed willingness to negotiate various issues.
Gonzalez added that Trump might lash out at Mexico in the lead-up to next year's elections as well as during the course of the impeachment trial that he is facing in the Senate for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
"I think that next year will be as or even more difficult than 2019," Gonzalez said.
