Next July 2018, Mexico will elect over 3000 public posts all over the country, including a new president, members of the Congress, local officials and several state governors. The result of such election will be determinant in Mexico’s future for years to come as it remains unclear which direction the country will take not only domestically, but also regionally and internationally. The so-called leftist candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador has been the clear front runner of the contested election for several months. This should not come as a surprise as Mexico’s political environment is facing a perplexed field of presidential candidates: José Antonio Meade, the PRI’s candidate, is a well-seasoned public servant with ample experience in public administration, but a very clumsy campaigner that has the difficult task of defending the dire legacy of the incumbent president, Enrique Peña Nieto; Ricardo Anaya, the third candidate is running on a brittle right-left coalition that has been struggling to find its sense of direction.
If these circumstances were not enough, Mexico is being squeezed at the same time by Trump’s United States, and more recently by Putin’s Russia; each pursuing a completely divergent agenda, yet, ironically, contributing to the very same electoral result: The rise of Obrador. Over the last few days, there have been increasing rumours about a possible Russian interference in Mexican elections. So far, any predictions of such involvement remain speculative, yet they are not irrational. Due to its proximity, there is no other country in the world that influences the US as much as Mexico. Both nations are deeply interwoven, and they depend on one another to strengthen security, trade, investment, as well as improve the lives of their citizens in who are residents in either country. They are the homes of the largest US and Mexican diasporas. It is estimated that approximately 37 million Mexicans reside in the US, and over one million Americans live in Mexico.
Full Article: From Russia with Love: Will Mexico be Putin’s Next Guinea Pig? – Modern Diplomacy.