Local Diplomacy in Mexico during 2021. Challenges and opportunities in an election year

In mid-2021, in the thirty-two federal entities that make up the Mexican Republic, electoral processes will be carried out in which the citizens will choose the public servants of the different levels of government, in the executive and legislative spheres, to a new term of office. Being this way, and coupled with the present problems derived from the health emergency that impacted the country and the entire world a little over a year ago, a panorama is presented with different challenges for the exercise of governance at the national and local level.

One of the areas facing these challenges is that of Mexican local diplomacy, which has had to adapt to the new normality and start or continue generating actions that benefit the population, since in the current context these activities represent a relevant option to take into account to combat the adverse effects that took place during 2020.

That is why this text aims to identify the challenges that arise for Local Diplomacy in Mexico during the year 2021, as well as the opportunities that local governments can take advantage of to enhance their international activity.

International and national context

To begin, let us remember that on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified the Covid-19 disease as a pandemic.1 Days later, the Federal Executive Power in Mexico through the General Health Council , declared the state a health emergency for reasons of the same disease.2

Derived from this situation, throughout 2020 it became clear that this pandemic would have visible repercussions from then until several years from now, especially for the social and economic development of all countries. An example of this is what António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), commented: “At a time when we desperately need to move forward, COVID-19 can set us back years, even decades, leaving countries with massive and growing fiscal challenges.”3

Also, it has been pointed out that the pandemic revealed "the structural problems of the economic model and the shortcomings of the social protection system and gaps in the welfare regime, confirming the need to rethink development and formulate responses for a post-COVID world".4

Along with these declarations, and despite the efforts that have been made in the international arena to combat the difficulties that arise and not go back on the progress that had been obtained through tools such as the 2030 Agenda, António Guterres considers that "the countries are still not taking the Sustainable Development Goals seriously and cited, for example, the lack of solidarity and effective international cooperation.”5

On the other hand, in Mexico the panorama has been classified as extremely complex, firstly due to the increase in positive cases of this new disease, and then due to the economic and social impact that it brings with it. As an example of these consequences, it can be commented that the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) foresees that the country will go from 11.1 to 15.9% of people below the extreme poverty line in the coming years.6

During the so-called first wave of infections, government actions were focused on addressing the state of emergency; controlling the number of infections, applying healthy distance protocols, ceasing economic activities designated as non-essential, and informing the population about the new disease. Subsequently, economic activities began to be reactivated in order to mitigate the negative impact on this sector, but taking care that the number of infections did not grow.

As of the date this work is being written, a second wave of infections has already occurred in Mexico, which has been gradually decreasing, but it is noted that as in other countries, during the next few weeks the number of infections will increase again, causing a third wave that will force once again to reduce contact between people to a minimum.7

Within this panorama, it must also be pointed out that in Mexico during the month of June the corresponding votes will be held to choose five hundred deputies at the federal level, fifteen governors, and twenty thousand three hundred and eleven local positions, among municipal presidencies, mayors, councilors and unions.8 This process represents a change in the exercise of the country's public function, since new public servants will be in charge of the decisions of the position to which they were elected and this may mean the continuation or interruption of the work carried out by their predecessors.

Electoral calendar for the year 2021 in Mexico. Source: National Electoral Institute.

Challenges for Local Diplomacy in Mexico

Given the international and national context that Mexico is going through in 2021, we can identify some challenges facing the exercise of local diplomacy in this country. Firstly, after concentrating government actions on contagion containment and priority attention to the health emergency, international actions carried out by local actors took a backseat.

An example of this is the delay in the publication of the International Action Law of Mexico City, which was presented to the Congress of this city since March 4, 2020, was approved by the International Affairs Commission until September 2020. same year, and is currently awaiting discussion and subsequent publication.9

Therefore, one of the challenges is to resume the importance of international activities on the agenda of local governments. However, this challenge is gradually being left behind as the year progresses, especially in entities federations that have greater experience in the field of Local Diplomacy, such as Jalisco, Zacatecas and the State of Mexico.10 Proof of this is the observable increase in the international activities of these and other entities during the months of [January](https: //cemeri.org/documento/boletin-diplomacia-local-mexicana-enero-2021/), febrero, and March of 2021.

Although we find ourselves with this increase in activities, there are other challenges for Local Diplomacy in Mexico, which are generated as a consequence of the already mentioned electoral process. On the one hand, due to certain political practices that this writing does not intend to criticize, public officials leave their positions in the public administration early to participate again in the elections and thus have the opportunity to hold another public office.

This practice can mean a pause in the activities that had been carried out by the town halls, for example, which has a direct impact on the Local Diplomacy of the municipalities if the one who directed the international actions and also had an interest in carrying them out was he or the mayor on duty So, another challenge to face, at least during the first half of 2021, is the cessation or pause of these activities as a consequence of the absence of someone who directs or focuses their realization.

The last challenge that can be identified for Mexican Local Diplomacy in 2021, and which at the same time is decisive for carrying out international actions in the next three years, ** is the continuation of this type of activity by the new server public in his new position.** Although the continuation of activities after electoral processes in the different administrative positions in Mexico is not an exclusive problem of Local Diplomacy, these actions do present a greater risk of not being considered in the new agenda of the newly arrived public servants, mainly those who occupy the municipal presidency and especially in localities that have been working in their international sphere for a short time.

Opportunities for Local Diplomacy in Mexico

Fortuitously, the opportunities that arise to encourage Local Diplomacy actions in Mexico this year are directly related to the challenges they face, making them have less impact and even benefit the international activity. In the first place, derived from the fact that Local Diplomacy was no longer paid attention by the state of emergency and that little by little it has been incorporated into the daily tasks of government actions, we can mention that ** this can take momentum and develop with a focus on solving and mitigating the effects of the pandemic at the local level.**

The call by AMEXCID and the Delegation for External Action of Territorial Collectivities (MEAE/DAECT) of France for decentralized cooperation projects in 2021 seeks mainly to promote projects in the field of health and recovery from Covid-19. (2021).

In this sense, cooperation between Mexican local governments and international actors can transcend to a new stage, in which greater interest is shown in deepening or even generating new ties between different actors, where those involved are trained in more detail to face concrete problems that were not taken into account before, and that this specific approach leads to more concrete and effective results in terms of benefiting the civilian population.

Secondly, in relation to the fact that different public servants pause their position before the next elections and that there is the possibility that international work stops, we can mention that this can be taken as an advantage to point out how **important it is to have a strategy in international matters, so that it is carried out despite the fact that public servants leave their position temporarily.

International strategies, like others in the field of public administration, have a greater impact when they are considered from the beginning of the period of the different public servants. In this way and remembering the national context for Mexico in 2021, the opportunity is presented to generate international strategies for the federal entities, and even mostly for the municipalities, so that they develop the Local Diplomacy of their corresponding territorial demarcation and that said strategy have a greater impact during the next six or three years, depending on whether the scope is state or municipal.

Finally, the last advantage that this writing identifies for the Local Diplomacy of Mexico in 2021, is related to the previous point, and with the continuation of international activities after a change in public office. This is that more attention should be paid to the professionalization of public servants in international matters, regardless of the position they hold, since international actions and strategies depend on it. out correctly.

Taking into account the international context, it is imperative that those who hold public office are prepared to face the challenges that the world presents to Mexico and its localities, with which having a professional preparation in international matters represents an advantage to solve all kinds of difficulties, since the range of options to implement programs and policies is extended if actors from other countries are taken into account. Even, greater international professionalization would solve to a certain degree the deficient international cooperation, pointed out by António Guterres.11

Final considerations

Although noting that sufficient professionalization and developing effective government strategies are not new points, and even less so during electoral contests, the international situation is what now denotes the interest and the need to pay attention to these two areas.

Faced with situations that have never happened before, the authorities' response must be effective and efficient in order to bring benefits and solutions to the public. The future public servants of Mexico will face a great responsibility as of the following year, so taking Local Diplomacy into account as a tool for the positive development of their territorial demarcations can be of great help.

Finally, although the decade of the 2000s in Mexico was a year of great changes and a boost for Local Diplomacy due to various factors, the decade of the 2020s should also be relevant for the exercise of these activities, both because the The current situation demands it, as well as because now there are greater benefits and instruments that facilitate contact with international actors.