Holiday Cheer, Geopolitical Chill

I want to open this note by expressing my gratitude for your friendship, and appreciation for the confidence you have shown in me over the years. For many, the holiday season invites a moment of pause and reflection. As it stands, I find myself looking out at a rapidly reordering world. From tenuous truces in…

Fragile peace, a challenging chess board.

In my last newsletter, I raised the question as to whether we were living through a transformational moment or more of the same. Now, weeks later, the answer seems stark: we are witnessing profound and accelerating movement across the globe including emerging and complex dynamics in the Middle East, ever-increasing stakes in Ukraine, and heightened…

A transformative moment, or more of the same.

On June 24-25, NATO members hosted a summit at The Hague. Among the summit attendees’ pledges, leaders committed to investing 5% of their GDP on defense by 2035 and another US$ 46.5 billion in defense aid to Ukraine. On July 14, president Trump endorsed a plan for European allies to purchase U.S. military equipment for…

AMLO, now it’s El Presidente

Over the past few weeks, I’ve met with investors, corporate directors, and foreign-policy focused groups who are all acutely interested in Mexico’s ongoing political transition. Regardless of the sector, everyone has questions on what to expect from the next Mexican administration. President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador will assume office on December 1st with overwhelming majorities in both houses of…

USMCA, just don’t call it NAFTA.

It’s been thirteen months, nine official rounds of negotiations, countless side meetings, and a brief period where Canada’s participation appeared precarious, but this past Sunday night, the U.S., Mexican, and Canadian negotiators finally announced a new regional trade agreement. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) builds on the old NAFTA and pulls in much of the modernization that had been…

Oh, Canada!

On Monday—just over one year since Mexico, Canada, and the United States officially began the NAFTA renegotiations—President Donald Trump announced the “The United States – Mexico Trade Agreement.” During an impromptu press conference in the Oval Office, Mexican and U.S. officials declared that they had finally moved beyond the thorniest issues including auto content and…

Mexico: Ready to launch, AMLO minus…

It’s been over a month since President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador swept the election to become Mexico’s next leader. With 53 percent of the votes, López Obrador won every Mexican state except Guanajuato, and received a higher percentage of the overall vote than any of the past four presidents. The electoral mandate wasn’t only at the federal…

In The News

The McCombs School of Business inducted Amb. Antonio Garza into the McCombs Hall of Fame

Bloomberg “Balance of Power”, Jan. 9, 2023: “Immigration Top on Agenda During Biden Mexico Visit”

Amb. Garza gives the Fall 2023 SMU Commencement Address

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