World Savvy Monitor

Mexico is the most populous country in Latin America, routinely competing with Brazil for regional influence.  This can be seen vividly in the ongoing effort to reform the United Nations Security Council with the proposal of a permanent seat for Latin America.  Brazil and Mexico are bitter rivals for the proposed seat, and their rivalry is stalling the proposed reform as countries around the world divide into opposing camps with different potential membership rosters.  Latin American countries also vie for power at the World Trade Organization, specifically over who speaks for Latin America in the Doha negotiations aimed at developing countries.

Since the mid-20th Century, Cuba has been a rallying point for the rest of Latin America, including Mexico.  What Castro symbolized in standing up to the United States has had staying power.  Mexico broke with the US in the 1950s and 1960s over the Cuba’s pariah status, siding with other Latin American countries that protest the exclusion of Castro’s Cuba from regional and international bodies.  Mexico remains firm in its support of the normalization of relations with Cuba and its inclusion in the Organization of American States.

Next:  Mexico in the Context of Latin America:  Prospects for the Future