President-elect Barack Obama is to meet Mexican President Felipe Calderon today in Washington, continuing a pre-inaugural tradition amid rising drug violence in Mexico, increasing anti-Hispanic animosity in parts of the US, and questions about the future of the North American free trade agreement.
Obama and Calderon are to meet at the Mexican Cultural Institute. US-Mexico ties remain strong, and Hispanic voters played a major role in Obama's victory.
But drug violence in northern Mexico is threatening to spill over the border. And Obama's commitment to Nafta is uncertain. During the campaign, he struck a critical on the trade deal, which he blamed for loss of manufacturing jobs in the "rust belt" states of the American mid-West. He has said he would renegotiate the deal with Mexico and Canada to ensure more protections for US workers and the environment. But Calderon has said he favours leaving the deal stand as is.
