A chance for the U.S. to renew ties to Mexico

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20090415_A_chance_for_the_U_S__to_renew_ties_to_Mexico.html


By Eric Zolov
President Obama's visit to Mexico tomorrow is an opportune moment for a new strategic vision of U.S.-Mexican relations. As Arturo Sarukhan, Mexico's ambassador to the United States, recently put it, "It's time for the U.S. and Mexico to stop playing checkers and start playing chess."

That will require more American honesty about our role in issues such as immigration, as well as acknowledgment of Mexico's strengths as a newly vibrant democracy.

From 1938 to 1968, the United States and Mexico built what proved to be one of the most durable partnerships in the hemisphere. It began with the Mexican expropriation of foreign oil companies in 1938, which prompted a cry for U.S. intervention from Standard Oil and other American business interests. But President Franklin D. Roosevelt recognized that broader strategic interests - namely, retaining Mexico as an ally on the eve of war in Europe - trumped the narrower interests of big business.

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Anabel Arrazola