America's Mess With Mexico: A Fareed Zakaria Special

CNN's Fareed Zakaria examines how America's influence on its southern neighbor has impacted Mexico's moves towards illiberalism – and what it means for America's own future.

Mexico's historic election will send Claudia Sheinbaum, the country's first woman and person of Jewish faith, to the National Palace as the incoming president, in October.  But marring the celebrations of the impressive firsts were candidate assassinations that preceded the election, and nationwide violence at the polls.  People who have long watched Mexican politics also see warning signs for the ruling party's commitment to democracy: government restrictions of press freedoms and judicial independence, allegations of marginalization by indigenous people, and intimidation of minority political parties.

To understand how the relationship between the United States and Mexico is both "crucial … and complicated," in interviews with experts, Zakaria discusses how America has been dependent upon Mexico to help manage the mass migration of those fleeing violence and economic hardship.  And, it has been nearly two hundred years since the United States declared war upon Mexico, radically changing both nations' borders.  Eventually, the two countries were linked through transnational trade – and the drug cartels – that have created economic disparities and cultural disruption.  Mexican politics have also long impacted – and divided – politics in the United States.

Importantly, Zakaria notes, Mexico is America's top trading partner, even outranking China and Canada.  And, Mexico and America partner on everything from immigration to drug investigations to water management. However, Zakaria warns, anti-corruption efforts, civil reforms, and democracy itself in Mexico have seemed to be deprioritized by America in favor of stability at the border and short-term politics.

To explore these themes, interviewed for America's Mess With Mexico are: Jonathan Blitzer,journalist and author, Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis (2024); Peter Goodman, global economics correspondent, The New York Times and author, How the World Ran Out of Everything: Inside the Global Supply Chain (2024); Anabel Hernandez, journalist and author, The Traitor: Inside the World's Most Powerful Drug Cartel (2023); and, Shannon K. O'Neil, PhD, vice president, deputy director of studies and senior fellow for Latin America Studies, Council on Foreign Relations and author, The Globalization Myth: Why Regions Matter (2022).