Mexico is a nation where affluence, poverty, natural splendour and urban blight rub shoulders (BBC 2006ak, par. 1). Mexico has participated twice in UN peace operations, but never with troops. Mexico has also provided electoral assistance. And it is perhaps the country that has been most pushed to send troops. Mexican diplomats have visited DPKO several times to seek more information about the possibility of participating. But the Mexican response has been: “We are not ready yet.” Mexico is one of the most successful emerging democracies and one of the most prominent economic powers in Latin America. Despite firming the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), involving itself in many international forums (including the Human Rights Commission), and besides having on the largest military forces in the region, Mexico does not participate with troops in UN peace operations. And while the government states that Mexico is not ready to participate, national surveys conducted by prestigious research and academic institutions have shown that the Mexican society is amenable to sending troops to UN peace operations. But politicians and concerned agencies do not agree.
Thus, the main reasons why Mexico does not participate are related to the misunderstanding of peacekeeping that the politicians have (in the legislative body) and the ideological fight between the vieja and nueva guardia in the concerned agencies (defence, marine, interior, foreign affairs and the executive) which consider that Mexico has not the resources (troops) to use in UN peace operations due to the fact that other issues (such as fight against poverty and drug trafficking) deserve higher priority.
Mexico has participated several times with non-troop personnel in UN peace operations. First, Mexico participated with military observers in the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) from 1947–to date) (UNDPI 1996, 704). Second, Mexico participated with international civilian police in the United Nations Observer Mission in El Salvador (ONUSAL) from 1991-1995 (Ibid., 738). In 2003, Mexico participated in the General Assembly’s Special Committee of Peacekeeping Operations (UN-Mexico 2003a, par. 3).
Mexico has also provided electoral assistance to East Timor in 1999. Mexico insisted that the Special Committee on Peace Operations should have a link with the Security Council. Also Mexico organized a workshop about peace operations in which many Mexican officials, members of several Mexican public institutions and members of the Lester Pearson Centre (Ibid., par. 13).
The Mexican Minister of Foreign Affairs also states that Mexico participated with military observer in the UN Mission in the Balkans during 1947-1951; and in 2004 in Haiti, providing electoral assistance (Ibid., par. 10). But DPKO has no data with regards to that specific participation.
Despite the few cases in which Mexico has directly participated, Mexico is the 24th financial contributor to UN peace operations. Just in 2004, Mexico contributed with 12 millions of USA dollars, and it is possible that next year (2005), the contribution will be more than 15 millions [no further data was found]. For example, during 2004, the Mexican contributions for the peace tribunals in Rwanda and ex-Yugoslavia was three millions of dollars, and for the UN peace operations in Sierra Leone and Liberia, the contribution increased more. (SRE 2003, par. 11)
Also, Mexico has participated in discussions about the quick deployment of troops for Liberia while Mexico was a non-permanent member of the Security Council. During one of those discussions, Mexico stated though the participation of Adolfo Aguilar Zinser:
The delegation [Mexico] had decided to abstain in the vote on the draft resolution, as he would have wished to have a paragraph-by-paragraph vote take place. He [Aguilar] had requested such a vote, but the sponsor of the text had not agreed to it. He [Aguilar] had requested such a vote to express clearly that the only reason why he would abstain was because he did not agree with operative paragraph 7 of the resolution, while fully supporting all the other provisions. In the negotiations, Mexico had proposed leaving that paragraph out and had, like others, submitted various formulations for achieving consensus. (M2P 2003b, par. 4 quoting Aguilar 2003)
Paragraph 7 set a serious precedent, and specifically contravened Mexico’s laws (M2P 2003b, par. 4). Article 4 of Mexico’s penal code stated that crimes committed abroad against a Mexican would be prosecuted by Mexico, provided that the perpetrator was not prosecuted abroad (Ibid.). To uphold Mexico’s laws and the principles of international law, he had decided to abstain (Ibid.).
Perhaps the closest Mexican participation with regards to peacekeeping mission debates has been when Mexico was a non-permanent member of the Security Council. Ever since Mexico became a member of the Council, it had been careful to deal with peace in Liberia, as well as the humanitarian situation in that country (Ibid., par. 5).
Mexico had never agreed with the passive contention strategy that had been adopted for so long in the case of Liberia. Mexico had also sought to have the Council give special attention to the problems of West Africa and deal with them in a regional approach. Peace in Liberia was a key component of peace in the entire region. In recent weeks, Mexico had continued to insist that the Council act. He was convinced that had the Council acted in time, many lives could have been saved. Although the resolution came a bit late, it must be a starting point for the transitional process to bring peace to Liberia. (Ibid.)
Initial variables of the data collection process:
UN/UN peacekeeping policy reform
Mexico has been very active on its participation about the UN reform. For example, the Mission of Mexico to the UN states that “Mexico is part of the Group of Friends for the U.N. Reform” and the areas in which Mexico seeks reform are:
1. Enhancement of civilian means in the prevention and management of conflicts and in peace-building; 2. Strengthening of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC); 3. The role of the international court of justice in the context of United Nations reform; 4. The United Nations' relationship with regional organizations; 5. The issue of sanctions under chapter VII of the United Nations Charter; 6. Human rights and the reform of the United Nations; 7. Security Council working methods; 8. Proposals for the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly; 9. Consideration of environment issues at the global level; 10. United Nations peace-building activities; 11. Institutional structure of UN peacebuilding activities; 12. The responsibility to protect, civilian protection and the high level panel report; 13. Pacific settlement of disputes and conflict prevention; 14. The role of the United Nations in the fight against terrorism; and 15. Development. (Ibid., par. 2)
With regards to peace operations, the Mexican minister of foreign affairs (Mr. Luis Ernesto Derbez Bautista) stated that the Mexican participation in peace operations could be focused on civil activities, such as medical attention, and the reconstruction of hospitals, as well as demining (Camara 2006, par. 2 quoting Derbez Bautista 2006).
Perception of peacekeeping
The perceptions of peacekeeping vary within the Mexican society. Some sectors have a clear idea of what peacekeeping is, while others do not. The Mexican Congress is divided on the issue, while the Cámara de Senadores (Senate) is more open about the idea of sending troops the Cámara de Diputados (Chamber of Deputies) is more reluctant to the idea. The perspective of the Legislative Mexican power was expressed during the visit of the sub-secretary general of the United Nations for Peacekeeping Operations, Mr. Jean-Marie Guéhenno, on November 2002 (UN-Mexico 2003a, par. 10). The sub-secretary general discussed the possibility of sending Mexican troops with UN peace operations with the joint commission of foreign affairs and national defence of the Chamber of Deputies, who expressed that: “the peacekeeping operations is a controversial topic due to the postulate of ‘no intervention’ which is an unpronounceable principle and a capital” (Ibid.). In the same meeting, it was also stated that Mexico participated in ONUSAL due to the fact that both parties of the conflict accepted Mexico’s participation with UN Police (UNPOL) (Ibid.). No more data was a found with regards to the others participations of Mexico.
Another factor that it is important to take into consideration is that those perceptions of peacekeeping (those that imply the violation of the principle of no intervention) are shared by members of the vieja guardia—a colloquial term for the people advocating for a traditional foreign policy who tend to be the members of higher rank within the government. On the other hand are the members of the nueva guardia—those that advocate for a higher involvement of Mexico in international affairs including peace operations.
The vieja guardia often uses the perceptions of the USA-led wars to gain votes/support from other members of the Mexican congress. And this is supported by the fact that there is no a definitive definition of what a peace operation is, adding the fact that the Mexican government (especially the Minister of Foreign Affairs) does not have a budget for the creation of a campaign to inform and educate the legislative and governmental agencies about what peace operations are, their benefits and why Mexico is falling behind other nations for not participating. Unfortunately, the DPKO’s mandate does not include supporting these types of campaigns (DPKO 2006, par. 1).
Despite all these discussions at the governmental level, the Centro de Investigación y Docencias Económicas (CIDE) and the Consejo Mexicano de Asuntos Internacionales (COMEXI) state that the majority of Mexicans approve sending troops to UN peacekeeping operations (2004, 6).
This is stated in a set of questions from the report "Mexico y el mundo 2005." The translation of the set of questions is:
Question 7 - Question 7/18: And now please tell me, if the UN asks the member states to send a police or military force to some place in the world, What do you believe Mexico must do, participate in the peace force or leave this type of activities to other countries?
7/18 Participation of Mexico in UN peace operations
As indicated below, the same survey states that Mexican society wants to see its country more involved in international affairs. To see the set of questions in Spanish, please contact the researcher:
German Robles-Osuna
Therefore, there is a contradiction about what the government believes and what the Mexican society believes.
Domestic political environment
In order to send troops, Mexican authorities (the Executive, the Minister of Defence, the Minister of Marine, Minister of Interior, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs) must come together to prepare the bill for discussion in Congress. Each of the authorities involved in the process have their own problems. The Executive considers that Mexico has other priorities, such as Chiapas, the fight against poverty, and others. Defence and Marine hesitate to participate for unknown reasons. And inside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs there is an ideological debate between the unofficial members of the vieja guardia and the nueva guadia. The vieja guardia is the one currently in control of the agenda of foreign affairs, and they consider Mexico should focus on the traditional foreign affairs agenda such as relations with the USA and slowly start opening to new issues such as gender, and others. The nueva guardia is formed by a new group of diplomats who see Mexico’s role at the beginning of the 21st century should be more active, and it includes participating in UN peacekeeping operations. Perhaps the most important problem is lack of information about what a peacekeeping operation is, and how it would benefit Mexico.
The immediate political crisis caused by a disputed presidential election has been resolved (EIU 2006cb, 1). After a two-month delay Felipe Calderón of the Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) was confirmed as victor in the presidential election of July 2, [2006] by the electoral court (Ibid.). There are more chances that Mexico participates in UN peace operations under the administration of Calderon. However, “Calderón still faces huge challenges to governability, including a weak mandate, a minority position in Congress, and the strident opposition of his unsuccessful presidential rival, Andrés Manuel López Obrador” (Ibid.). Calderón is now working towards putting together a stable congressional majority in time for his inauguration on December 1 (Ibid.).
Domestic economic environment
Mexico's growth remains strongly linked to the US economic cycle, as reflected in a rapid acceleration of GDP growth in the first half of 2006, to 5.1%, driven by an upturn in US import demand (EIU 2006cb, 11). Nevertheless, this is not the main factor affecting Mexico’s lack of troop contribution.
Military affairs
The IISS states that the Mexican armed forces during 2004/05 were organized in the following way: active forces total 192,770, reserve force totals 300,000, army totals 144,000 soldiers, of which 60,000 are conscripts, and 12 military regions with garrisons in 44 zones Each garrison comprises 81 infantry brigades, 19 motorized cavalry brigades, three artillery regiments and one air-mobile unit (EIU 2006ae 13, quoting IISS 2005).
The strategic reserve includes four armored brigades and one presidential guard brigade. Navy, the navy comprises 37,000 seamen, including 8,700 marines and 1,100 naval air personnel. There are 17 naval regions, of which six are in the Gulf of Mexico and 11 in the Pacific Ocean. The navy possesses three destroyers and eight frigates. Air force, the air force comprises 11,770 airmen, including one squadron with ten fighter planes and 47 armed helicopters. (Ibid.)
The defence spending is low, amounting to just 0.3% of GDP in 2004 (Ibid.). This is one of the lowest levels in the region and compares with 1.8% of GDP in Brazil (2003 figures) (Ibid.).
Although the armed forces are ill-equipped to defend Mexico from external aggression, their role in domestic affairs has increased in the past few years. In addition to waging a perennial war against drug-traffickers, they have been called on to contain guerrilla groups, notably the EZLN, and even to take on policing duties. However, scandals related to corruption and human rights abuses have tarnished the army’s image. (Ibid.)
Foreign policy
Mexico's relations with the US will continue to dominate foreign policy under Calderón (EIU 2006cb, 8). Conditions for migrant workers will remain at the top of Mexico's agenda, whereas strategies for improving security along the 3,000-km bilateral border will continue to be a priority for the US as part of its "war on terror" (Ibid.).
Mexico's relations with the US will continue to dominate foreign policy under Calderón (EIU 2006cb, 8). Conditions for migrant workers will remain at the top of Mexico's agenda, whereas strategies for improving security along the 3,000-km bilateral border will continue to be a priority for the US as part of its "war on terror" (Ibid.).
After years of prompting by the Fox government, legislation was recently proposed in the US Senate that would stiffen security, while formalizing migration flows through the creation of a guest-worker program. However, the proposals proved controversial in the US and were abandoned in the run-up to mid-term elections there in November. The issue is of major importance to Mexico's economy. There are an estimated 6m Mexicans working illegally in the US, sending back the lion's share of workers' remittances, equivalent to over 2% of GDP. Although relations with the US will continue to dominate the headlines and demand the attention of Mexican policymakers, Calderón also appears anxious to place more emphasis on relations with Latin America, which have been a relatively low priority for Fox. (Ibid.)
The interesting fact will be how Mexico will react on the issue of sending troops due to the fact that in 2009, Mexico will be again a candidate for a non-permanent seat at the Security Council.
Additional variables found after the preliminary analysis:
Climate changes
No record.
Additional variables found after the preliminary analysis:
Climate changes
No record.
Independent negotiations taken by DPKO to seek troops
No record.
Independent negotiations taken by contributor countries to engage non-contributor countries
No record.
Meetings organized by other international organizations to engage in dialogue about peacekeeping
The concept of “Hemispheric Security” within the framework of the OAS states that the OAS members face different types of security problems in comparison to the rest of the international community (specifically current conflict environments) (OAS 2006, par. 1). This creates one more obstacle for Mexico’s participation, because the only current UN peace operation is in Haiti, and Mexican forces are also needed in other parts of the world. Also, the Minister of the EU’s Office of Foreign Relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, has stated, on September 2006 while visiting Mexico, that Mexico should send troops to humanitarian operations (Fritz 2006, par. 1 quoting Ferrero-Waldner 2006). Ferrero-Waldner acknowledged the controversy of the issue due to the Estrada Doctrine followed by the Mexican Foreign Policy (Ibid.).
