The avalanche of congratulations for Biden’s triumph — essential to show the worldwide rejection of the Joker who has occupied the White House for the last four years — ignored the basic lines of his political biography.
At least for Mexico, the problems in that bio make up a long and murky list: Biden accepted Peña Nieto’s fraud in 2012 (the purchase of votes). In very politically correct language, he and Obama violently deported 3 million Mexicans (for which Obama earned the title of Deporter in Chief) and opened the way to the ecological depredation of the country, giving Calderón and Peña free rein to support the extractive industries.
Mexico’s relationship with Biden will not be easy. The new White House will attempt to take the situation back to where it was in 2016 — only in a situation now imposed by the pandemic, which is to say, a situation far more precarious than in 2016. For México, Biden only promises an era of even greater tension. The most serious source of that tension: the pressure to get México to comply to the letter with the T-MEC, a frankly onerous treaty redone by the Democrats themselves.
But today's circumstances are not the same as in 2016. Washington finds itself in the dilemma of having to overcome three gigantic challenges: a gradual alliance between China and Russia, a Europe with which it has lost all communication, and its gradual loss of hegemony in Latin America. The Chinese challenge is no longer simply economic. The Pentagon does not seem to dislike the idea of embarking on the path of a new Cold War. This will consume President Biden's energies to such an extent that the Mexican government would have an escape to ease tensions with the new administration.
Then there is the domestic crisis of American society. The 2020 election showed the decisive weight of the Latino vote — particularly the Mexican vote — that decided the election in at least five crucial states. The US deportation policy must change. It is here, perhaps, where the Morena government can find a major opening for negotiation, but only if Biden takes a course he has shied away from until now. Morena must become an effective instrument of support for Mexican communities in the United States.