It is fair to say that there are no two neighbors in the entire western hemisphere with a more fraught history than Mexico and the United States. Students of Latin American history are no doubt familiar with Mexican dictator Porfirio Diaz’s famous quip regarding the troubled relationship between the two countries: “Poor Mexico, so far from God, but so close to the United States’”. The ubiquity of this quote is perhaps evidence enough that the United States has historically been a bad friend to its southern neighbor. But how much truth is there to this perception? To what extent has Mexico historically been victimized by the United States?
Mexico has been, from its first day of independence in 1821, a neighbor of the United States. At that time, the United States was still perceived throughout the world as the world’s leading anti-colonial power and was seen as a model for other post-colonial nations in the Americas. After a brief stint as an “Empire” following independence, Mexico adopted a federal structure based very closely on that of the United States, and relations between the two nations were friendly.
That’s a nice continent you have there, it would be a shame if Manifest Destiny happened to it. Source: http://www.emersonkent.com
The trouble began in the 1830’s, when the Mexican government invited Anglo settlers from the United States to settle the frontier territories in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas. Conflicts between the new Anglo settlers and the central government set off a series of complicated and messy conflicts which resulted in Texas becoming an independent republic, and soon thereafter a part of the United States. Driven by the young republic’s insatiable thirst for new territory and vision for a continent-spanning empire, the United States manufactured a border dispute between its new state of Texas and Mexico as a casus belli for the Mexican-American War, which kicked off in 1848. Although far from the lopsided conflict it is often portrayed as today, the end result of the war was a humiliating defeat for Mexico, resulting in the occupation of its capital, the loss of approximately 900,000 square miles of land (approximately 50% of its territory at the time) and the absorption of about 85,000 non-indigenous Mexican citizens into the United States. The blatantly imperialist Mexican-American War is the foundation stone for Mexican grievances against the United States. Unfortunately for Mexico, it doesn’t end there.
Out of the political turmoil of the mid-19th century Mexico there emerged a caudillo (a Latin American term for a type of strongman) named Porfirio Diaz who was able to consolidate power and establish a stable, dictatorial, technocratic state known to us today as the Porfiriato. This regime, which lasted from 1876 to the beginning of the Mexican Revolution in 1911, was noted for its close ties to American businesses, who spent the last quarter of the 19th century exploiting the country’s workers and resources. Although the political stability brought about by Diaz led to a prolonged economic boom in the country, this boom came at a cost. The nature of the Diaz regime was summarized neatly in its unofficial slogan: “Pan o Palo” (“Bread or the Club”). Many of these costs (as well as liberal use of the “palo”) were the responsibility of the American businesses who enjoyed such a close relationship with the authorities in Mexico. One of the most notorious abuses of power by American corporations in Mexico during this time was the strike at an American-owned copper mine in the Sonoran town of Cananea, which was set off by the inhuman conditions Mexican workers were forced to endure there. The strike was brutally put down by a hired posse of American paramilitaries from nearby Arizona, with dozens of Mexican fatalities. Cananea is a notable example of the violation of Mexican citizens and Mexican sovereignty perpetrated by American business interests during this period.
Striking miners in Cananea. Source: University of Arizona Special Collections
Resentment against foreign interests and the brutal nature of the Porfiriato exploded in 1910 in the Mexican Revolution. As in other Latin American political confrontations, the United States did its fair share of meddling in this conflict. Perhaps the most notable example was the failed Pancho Villa Expedition of 1916, in which the United States Army invaded northern Mexico to pursue Mexican revolutionary leader Pancho Villa. This illegal invasion was eventually turned back by Mexican government forces, but the US Army remained as an occupying force throughout much of northern Mexico well into 1917, when American forces withdrew to focus on the conflict in Europe. The United States was also responsible for the shelling and occupation the important port city of Veracruz in 1914, resulting in hundreds of casualties on both sides.
Since the end of the Revolution and the imposition of stable one-party rule in Mexico during the middle of the 20th century, relations between the United States and Mexico have normalized. The two nations have (mostly) respected each others sovereignty, and during this time the two largest countries in North America have grown into two of the world’s most important economies. The United States has become home to tens of millions of mostly legal immigrants from Mexico in the decades since the end of the Revolution, and since the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement in the 1990s, the two countries have become among the world’s closest trading partners. But conflict still remains just below the surface. American demand for drugs has been a large factor fueling Mexico’s most recent round of cartel-related violence, and incorrect perceptions regarding trade and immigration have fueled populist folk hero Donald Trump’s rise to power. When considering the history of the relationship between the two countries, it’s important to keep in mind that even if 100% of what populists in the United States say about Mexico’s negative impact on the United States were true, on balance, the United States still has a tremendous historic debt it owes its southern neighbor.
Sources and Further Reading:
Clary, D. A. (2013). Eagles and empire. New York: Bantam Books.
Fehrenbach, T. R. (2014). Lone Star: A history of Texas and the Texans.
Meyer, M. C., Sherman, W. L., & Deeds, S. M. (2007). The course of Mexican history. New York: Oxford University Press.
Plana, M. (2002). Pancho Villa and the Mexican Revolution. New York: Interlink Books.
