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BOOK REVIEW 6: “The synergies with other communities: the case of TRICAMEX” (Chp. 7) of La Diplomacia Consular Mexicana en Tiempos de Trump.

11/2/2020

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This post will review the chapter “The synergies with other communities: The case of TRICAMEX,” written by Jorge A. Schiavon and Guillermo Ordorica R. of the book Mexican Consular Diplomacy in Trump´s Era.
 
TRICAMEX stands for mecanismo de concertación Triángulo del Norte de Centroamérica y México or “Central America Northern Triangle and Mexico consular consultation program.”
 
It is an innovative way to implement the Consular Diplomacy of the four countries involved (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico), which started in McAllen, Texas, in December 2015.
 
According to Maaike Okano-Heijmans, a scholar of the Clingadndale Institute, one form of Consular Diplomacy is when “Governments attach increasing important to and are becoming more involved in consular affairs at the practical as well as policy levels”[i] that entails from the negotiation of agreements about consular affairs to the exchange of best consular practices and cooperation on the ground. TRICAMEX fulfills completely this description of what Consular Diplomacy is, as you will see.
 
I believe that the negotiation of an agreement between the consulates of Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico in McAllen, Texas, was a critical step forward for broader collaboration and the exchange of best practices. However, what stands out was the four governments' interest to expand this mechanism across the U.S. and include the topic in their formal bilateral and regional diplomatic agendas. It is a clear example of Consular Diplomacy.
 
I estimate that Schiavon and Ordorica's work is the first academic analysis of TRICAMEX, as I could not find any other besides official press releases and some news about the group's activities in different cities (See the list at the bottom of the post). This is one of the reasons why this paper is a valuable contribution to the study of Consular Diplomacy.
 
In this chapter, Schiavon and Ordorica describe the origins of TRICAMEX and its activities, focusing on two areas: consular protection and community engagement. Besides, they propose new collaboration areas, such as the “Coordinated Consular Protection (Protección Consular Coordinada).
 
The two authors incorporate a novel idea: “minilateralism”, described as a new way of collaboration between a reduced number of countries to solve shared challenges that can turn into crises.[ii]
 
Schiavon and Ordorica view TRICAMEX as an excellent example of minilateralism on immigration issues by consular offices in the United States.[iii]
 
The chapter is divided into five parts. In the first section, they explain the immigration context that resulted in the establishment of new consulates of Honduras and El Salvador in McAllen.[iv]
 
In December 2015, the four consulates signed a joint declaration establishing the consular consultation program “to exchange best practices and promote Consular Diplomacy initiatives, to strengthen the dialogue with public and private stakeholders involved in the care of their immigrant communities.”[v]
 
This local initiative got the attention of the capitals of the four countries. In December 2016,[vi] the four countries' ministries of foreign affairs decided to expand TRICAMEX to other U.S. cities.[vii]
 
In the chapter´s second segment, the authors describe that TRICAMEX McAllen “held frequently meeting with social and community organizations, academic institutions, leaders, and authorities interested in immigration issues. Because of it, all involved actors better understand the consular work and display their interest in improving outreach mechanisms, collaborations, and the information exchanges…”[viii]
 
Schiavon and Ordorica present an example of the greater collaboration the consular activities related to the Missing Migrant Initiative. The four consulates elaborated a single survey to encourage the localization of missing persons. Additionally, Mexico offered the other consulates the use of its consular protection calling center (Centro de Información y Atención a Mexicanos -CIAM-) to search for lost people.[ix]
 
For the Central American consulates, TRICAMEX McAllen was also a conduit with Mexican authorities, including the State of Tamaulipas and the city of Reynosa.[x]
 
Internally, the mechanism provided opportunities for training and exchanges of best practices.[xi] For example, the Inter-American Development Bank organized a training seminar in Mexico City that later was replicated in many consular offices of the Northern Triangle across the U.S.[xii]
 
Besides, they work together in supporting vulnerable populations such as migrant women and unaccompanied minors. As part of this collaboration, Mexico shared the Protocol for the consular care of unaccompanied migrant children and adolescents, created with the support of UNICEF Mexico.[xiii]
 
The authors also list other examples of collaboration, including meetings with the President of Guatemala in April 2016 and a U.S. office representative of the International Organization of the Red Cross.[xiv]
 
In the area of community affairs, TRICAMEX McAllen opened channels of communication with different organizations and leaders. Mexico shared with the Central American consulates some community affairs programs instrumented by the Instituto de los Mexicanos en el Exterior (IME), including the Ventanilla de Atención Integral para la Mujer  or “Initiative for the Comprehensive Care of Women” -VAIM-.[xv]
 
In the chapter`s fourth part, Schiavon and Ordorica identify that TRICAMEX McAllen is gradually expanding into the political and social spheres. The first focused on local authorities and the second on the business community. The goal is to multiple channels of communication with key players in favor of the immigrant community and promote development in the home countries.[xvi]
 
The authors conclude their chapter stating that there is room for TRICAMEX to grow into a Proteccion Consular Conjunta (Joint Consular Protection).[xvii] They analyze International and Regional Laws, saying that there are no legal obstacles to provide consular assistance to persons of other nationalities.
 
This chapter is worth reading because, as I mentioned before, it is the first academic paper about this consular initiative. It is also interesting since the authors demonstrate that Consular Diplomacy can also be a multilateral effort by different countries with shared challenges.
 
TRICAMEX proves that minilateral Consular Diplomacy can be developed, and furthermore, can have successful outcomes benefiting their communities and the participating countries. Examples of concrete collaborations, as the Missing Migrant Initiative, shows the benefits of working together.
 
Besides, it reiterates some of Mexico´s Consular Diplomacy characteristics, such as establishing partnerships with like-minded organizations, institutions, and persons; its adaptability and innovative approaches; and its willingness to share experiences, policies, and best practices with other countries.
 
For more information about TRICAMEX, see (organized by date)
 
Estrada, Priscilla, “Consulate group Tricamex celebrates one year of success”, Valley Central, December 6, 2016. (In English)
 
Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, Press Release, December 14, 2016. (In Spanish)
 
Consulado General de México en Chicago, Press Release, December 20, 2016. (In Spanish)
 
Consulado de México en McAllen, TRICAMEX McAllen 2017 Quarterly Bulletin (4). (In Spanish)
 
Dirección de Asuntos Consulares, “Experiencia del espacio de coordinación local TRICAMEX, para la Protección Consular”, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de El Salvador, June 2018. (In Spanish)
 
Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, Press Release, July 10, 2018. (In English)
 
“Border Patrol operations, TRICAMEX fly over Rio Grande Valley” in Homeland Preparedness News, July 24, 2018. (In English)
 
Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, Remarks by Foreign Affairs Ministry, October 11, 2018. (In English)
 
Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, Press Release, October 30, 2018. (In English)
 
Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores y Cooperación Internacional de Honduras, Press Release, October 8, 2018. (In Spanish)
 
Smith, Molly, “Formed in the wake of 2014 migrant crisis, consular group faces familiar challenges”, in The Monitor, November 29, 2018. (In English)
 
Inter-American Development Bank, “IDB trains officials from Central America Northern Triangle”, December 20, 2018. (In English)
 
Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Guatemala, Press Release, September 2, 2020. (In Spanish)
 


[i] Okano-Heijmans, Maaike, “Change in Consular Assistance and the Emergence of Consular Diplomacy”, Netherlands Institute of International Relations ´Clingendael´, February 2010, p. 2.
[ii] Schiavon, Jorge A., and Ordorica R., Guillermo, “Las sinergias con otras comunidades: el caso de TRICAMEX” in  La Diplomacia Consular Mexicana en los tiempos de Trump, 2018, p. 185.
[iii] Ibid. p. 185.
[iv] Ibid. p. 189-192.
[v] Ibid. p. 186.
[vi] This action took place in December 2016, a month after the election of Donald Trump as president. See Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, Press Release, December 14, 2016. (In Spanish)
[vii] Ibid. p. 186.
[viii] Ibid. p. 189.
[ix] Ibid. p. 190.
[x] Ibid. p. 190.
[xi] Ibid. p. 191.
[xii] Inter-American Development Bank, “IDB trains officials from Central America Northern Triangle”, December 20, 2018.
[xiii] For a brief description of protocol´s origins and its benefits, see Gallo, Karla, “En el camino hacia la protección integral de la niñez migrante, UNICEF México Blog, August 21, 2019.
[xiv] Ibid. p. 192.
[xv] I will write a post about the VAIM later. For  a brief description of the program click here, or read Gómez Maganda Guadalupe, and Kerber Palma, Alicia, “Atención con perspectiva de género para las comunidades mexicanas en el exterior” in Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior, No. 107, May-August 2016, pp 185-202, and the doctoral dissertation of Martha Eréndira Montejano Hernández of  2018.
[xvi] Ibid. p. 194.
[xvii] Ibid. p. 199.

DISCLAIMER: All views expressed on this blog are that of the author and do not represent the opinions of any other authority, agency, organization, employer or company.

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The Origins  of Mexico´s Consular Diplomacy.

10/28/2020

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In the last couple of days, I have been reading the spectacular book Antología Protección Consular a Mexicanos en los Estados Unidos 1849-1900, written by Ángela Moyano Pahissa.
 
After the author reviewed what I think must have been thousands of official documents and correspondence written by consuls of Mexico, the Mexican delegation in Washington, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she divided the book into five chapters that deal with specific problems:
  1. Protection of Mexicans chased in the lost territories after the war.
  2. Protests for irregularities in the administration of justice to Mexicans.
  3. Protests for the occupation of land owned by Mexicans.
  4. Protests for violent acts against Mexicans.
  5. Protection of Mexicans or people from Mexican descendant that requested their repatriation to Mexico at the end of the 19th century.
 
In each, Moyano Pahissa included a selection of official documents that reflect the ideas, challenges, and solutions regarding these specific problems that resulted from the Mexico - U.S. War of 1846-1848 and the loss of half of its territory. It is incredible to read that some of them have not changed since then.
 
After reading the book, I now better understand the colossal influence that the annexation to the U.S. of the former Mexican territory had on the Mexicans living in those lands and the development of Mexico’s Consular Diplomacy.
 
From having to ratify their land ownership through a complicated and unfair process, to the need to decide in a year the nationality they wanted to have, Mexicans suffered greatly in the United States after 1848.
 
Besides, there was a direct attack not only against their culture but themselves. “Some historians state that in the decade from 1850 to 1860, Anglo-Americans lynched between three to four thousand Mexicans of a total population of ten thousand.”[i]
 
The systematic loss of property rights, in violation of Article VIII of the Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty, had significant consequences for Mexicans. Even though property requirements to be able to vote were almost eliminated by then, payment of taxes was still a common requirement to vote, thus limiting their possibility to participate in politics and influence policies.
 
Therefore, Mexico’s government had to enhance the defense of its nationals’ rights north of the border, including the establishment of consular offices in places that before was its own country.
 
Back then, Consuls of Mexico had to respond to information requests by the President’s office about high profile cases reported in the press, when they involved Mexicans, either as victims or as perpetrators. They also presented complaints to U.S. authorities for the delay in court cases, the imposition of high cash bail amounts, or extended detention periods.
 
Mexican consular agents also had to be in constant communications with local and state authorities and the Mexican community, creating cooperation networks.  Border consulates had additional challenges like smuggling and attacks on Mexican communities by outlaws, and tribes.
 
If all this sounds similar to what Maaike Okano-Heijmans, a scholar of the Clingendael Institute, described as Consular Diplomacy in “Change in Consular Assistance and the Emergence of Consular Diplomacy,” is because it is!
 
The loss of property rights, the problem of questionable citizenship, the attack on Mexican culture and people, combined with widespread discrimination that Mexicans faced after 1848 in the lost territories, catapulted the government of Mexico to develop an incipient Consular Diplomacy, way before it was the norm across the world.[i]  

Some of the characteristics of today´s Mexican Consular Diplomacy developed during this period, such as:
  1. Registering Mexicans at the nearest consulate.
  2. Providing some legal advice and representation.
  3. Intervening in labor disputes.
  4. Striving to have consular offices and agents in places with high concentration of Mexicans.
  5. Adapting to the regional context.
  6. Collaborating with other actors.
  7. Participating in diplomatic issues at the local level.
 


[i] Moyano, Pahissa, Ángela, Antología Protección Consular a Mexicanos en los Estados Unidos 1849-1900, México, 1989, p. 113.
[i] Heijmans, Maaike and Melissen, Jan in Foreign Ministries and the Rising Challenge of Consular Affairs: Cinderella in the Limelight, Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael, June 7, 2006, p. 4.
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DISCLAIMER: All views expressed on this blog are that of the author and do not represent the opinions of any other authority, agency, organization, employer, or company.

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Book review 5. “Consular Diplomacy in the face of U.S. demography and society in the 21st Century” ( Chp. 7) in La Diplomacia Consular Mexicana en tiempos de Trump.

10/22/2020

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In the chapter “Consular Diplomacy in the face of U.S. demography and society in the 21st Century,” of the book La Diplomacia  Consular Mexicana en tiempo de Trump, Ambassador Juan Carlos Mendoza Sánchez explains that demography changes in the United States have resulted in the expansion of nativist movements and anti-immigrant sentiments amongst the white population.
 
He also details Trump´s changes to immigration policies and Mexico´s response to these challenges thru the implantation of an active and innovative Consular Diplomacy.
 
In the section titled “A new demography face that scares the WASP sector,” the Ambassador pinpoints June 18, 2003, as a milestone because it was the day when the Latino community in the U.S. reached 38.8 million turning into the first minority, overpassing the Afro-American population.[i] As a result, alarms rang amongst the conservative white people, and their response to this “invasion” was the creation and expansion of nativist and anti-immigrant policies.
 
Mendoza Sánchez details the history of anti-immigrant regulations in the U.S., starting from infamous California´s Proposition 187 of 1994 to Samuel Huntington´s book Who are we?[ii]
 
Latino population's fast growth in the U.S. resulted in being the majority group in 30 cities, so the Ambassador states that “it is not unfounded the white-population fears of becoming a minority in their own country [and that fear] have slowly developed into anti-immigrant sentiments, and policies to make the U.S. unattractive to those who live there.”[iii] Donald Trump`s presidency is just a new and more radical chapter in the U.S. immigration policy.
 
In the second part of the chapter, Ambassador Mendoza Sánchez explains that it was a radical change in the designation of undocumented migrants as threats to national security and public safety in two Executive Orders signed by the President.
 
He also details some of the multiple changes to immigration policies, guidelines, and enforcement operations to criminalize undocumented immigration, with a particular focus on Mexico´s border and the Latino population.[iv]
 
Another significant change was the end of enforcement priorities; thus, turning every single undocumented immigrant a target. Considering the existence of three million of mixed households meant the possibility of massive deportation that would have tremendous social consequences in the U.S. consequences of the new enforcement guidelines.[v]
 
In the section “New challenges for Mexican Consular Diplomacy,” Mendoza Sánchez emphasizes that immigration policy changes have a direct impact on Mexicans in the U.S. It presents one of the biggest challenges to Mexico´s Consular Diplomacy. He identifies ten of them, but here I only include six:
  • Delink the ideas that all undocumented migrants are Mexicans.
  • Preserve the alliances with authorities and politicians of sanctuary cities, to avoid any policy reversals.
  • Assist most vulnerable Mexicans living far from consular offices
  • Promote dual citizenship to those eligible.
  • Prepare those persons most at risk of being deported back to Mexico.
  • Strengthen community affairs programs.[vi]
 
The Ambassador highlights that there are more Mexican with immigration status than undocumented ones, for the first time in ages.[vii] This fact is unknown in the U.S. and contradicts the current anti-immigrant rhetoric that most Mexicans are undocumented.
 
He explains that undocumented persons tend to live in sanctuary cities, and the implementation of policies to limit resources to those authorities will affect them.[viii] Fortunately, it has not been occurred yet, mostly thru lawsuits.
 
Mendoza Sánchez writes that the Mexican community's geographical dispersion across the U.S. is one of the biggest challenges for consulates that cover large territories. The Mexican government's response was the establishment of the Mobile Consulate program that in the 21st century expanded into the Consulado sobre Ruedas (Consulate on Wheels) initiative.[ix] These activities were crucial for assisting vulnerable Mexicans after Trump´s inauguration.[x]
 
Additionally, he identifies that “developing synergies with pro-immigrant organizations, authorities, other countries’ consulates, and minority groups is one of the most effective activities for consulates under the current circumstances.”[xi]
 
Consular Diplomacy in action.
 
In response to the enhanced anti-immigrant context, the government of Mexico designed a Consular Diplomacy strategy that contained three main activities:
  1. Rights´ promotion and defense via the establishment of the Centros de Defensoria (Legal Defense Centers) in all consulates.
  2. Increase in personnel for documentation services and less red tape.
  3. Establishment of the Protección al Patrimonio Familiar (Family Wealth Protection) program of the Institute of Mexicans Abroad (IME).[xii]
 
He briefly explains the FAMEU program implemented in 2017 that had a 50 million dollar extraordinary budget.
 
He briefly mentions Local Repatriation Arrangements[xiii] that help Border consulates in the orderly and humanly repatriation of Mexican nationals.[xiv] These arrangements are a clear example of Maaike Okano-Heijmans´ Consular Diplomacy definition because they are “diplomatic” in nature but are negotiated, signed, and implemented locally. 
 
Then the Ambassador explains five different programs part of Mexico`s Consular Diplomacy:
a)Protection to Mexicans Abroad Innovations (Innovaciones en la proteccion a mexicanos).
  1. Family Wealth Protection program (Programa protección al patrimonio).
c)Assistance to Mexicans Abroad Unit (Módulo de Atención de Mexicanos en el Exterior)
d)Education Opportunities Window (Ventanilla de Oportunidades Educativas).
e)Promotion of preventive health among migrants (Promoción de la salud preventiva de los migrantes).
 
Even though Mendoza Sánchez briefly describes each program, I do not include them here. In Figure 1, located at the end of the post, you can find a summary. All of them are innovative consular undertakings of Mexico`s Consular Diplomacy, which some countries are replicating. Most of them are unique and lay outside the traditional consular services offered by most ministries of foreign affairs to their citizens abroad.
 
Four of the five programs highlighted by Ambassador Mendoza Sánchez are under the responsibilities of the Instituto de los Mexicanos en el Exterior (Institute of Mexicans Abroad).[xv]
 
I would like to share an extraordinary achievement of one of them: la Ventanilla de Salud or Health Window. In 2017, the American States Organization granted the “Inter-American Award on Innovation for Effective Public Management” to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Health of Mexico for the Health Window program in the Social Inclusion category. That year the Health Windows at the consular network provided 5.2 million services to 1.7 million people.[xvi]
 
Conclusion.
 
The chapter is interesting to read as the Ambassador summarizes the origins of the Anglo-American population's growing resentment against immigrants and minorities. He explains that “for the WASP community, the country´s demographic change is a challenge to their way of life, values, and identity; therefore, the hardening of U.S. immigration policies.”[xvii]
 
Mendoza Sánchez states that “to face this new reality, the Mexican Consular Diplomacy has engaged in the largest mobilization of its history with extraordinary programs… [with] the objectives of defending undocumented Mexican migrants´ rights and interests, and supporting them for better integration into their host communities.”[xviii]
 
He also describes some of Consular Diplomacy´s most-forward-looking programs developed to take care of the Mexican community's needs during difficult times.
 
The Ambassador recommends the following:
  1. that Mexican consuls continue with their personal engagements with their Mexican communities to know the people´s situation, assist, and, more importantly, build synergies and strategic alliances with non-government organizations, churches, community centers, schools, authorities, and other minority and immigrant groups.
  2. It is necessary to organize the Mexican community that has a voice, votes, and resources, in conjunction with the Mexican-American community and friends of Mexico, to be able to react to the attacks against Mexicans, disseminate the benefits of the bilateral relationship and the Mexican community`s contributions to the U.S. [xix]
 
In this chapter, Ambassador Mendoza Sánchez implicitly highlights one of the essential features of Mexico´s Consular Diplomacy: its adaptability and scalability. As seen in Figure 1, most of the programs described in the chapter started in one or two consulates. After having good results, they were slowly expanded into a country-wide operation at all 50 consulates, and sometimes in other countries with large Mexican populations.
 


[i] Mendoza Sánchez, Juan Carlos, “La diplomacia consular ante la demografía y la sociedad de Estados Unidos en el siglo XXI” in La Diplomacia Consular Mexicana en tiempos de Trump, Rafael Fernández de Castro (coord.), Mexico, 2018, p. 154.
[ii] Ibid. p. 154-155.
[iii] Ibid. p. 157-158.
[iv] Ibid. p. 159.
[v] Ibid. p. 161.
[vi] Ibid. 163.
[vii] Ibid. p. 164.
[viii] Ibid. p. 165.
[ix] Ibid. p. 165-166
[x] Ibid. p. 165
[xi] Ibid. p. 167.
[xii] Ibid. p. 168.
[xiii] The LRAs are signed by the Consulates of Mexico and DHS agencies. Border LRAs also include the participation of the National Migration Institute of Mexico. Find a public version of the 9 border LRAs here.
[xiv] Ibid. p. 169-170.
[xv] To learn more about Mexico`s government engagement with its diaspora, read the multiple publications of Alexandra Delano included in Google Scholar. See also Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior # 107 Comunidades Mexicanas en el Exterior, May-August 2016; de Cossío Díaz, Roger, et al., Mexicanos en el Exterior: Trayectoria y perspectivas 1990-2010, Instituto Matías Romero, 2010; Laglagaron, Laura, Protection through Integration: The Mexican Government Efforts to Aid Migrants in the United States, Migration Policy Institute, January 2010; and Rannveig Mendoza, Dovelyn and Kathleen Newland, Developing a Road Map for Engaging Diasporas in Development: A Handbook for Policymakers and Practitioners in Home and Host Countries, International Organization for Migration and Migration Policy Institute, 2012.
[xvi] Ibid. p. 179.
[xvii] Ibid. p. 180.
[xviii] Ibid. p. 180.
[xix] Ibid. p. 181.


DISCLAIMER: All views expressed on this blog are that of the author and do not represent the opinions of any other authority, agency, organization, employer or company.


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BOOK REVIEW 4. “Mexico’s Integral Consular Management in the United States” (Chpt. 6) of Mexican Consular Diplomacy in Trump’s Era.

10/19/2020

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In this post I analyze the chapter “Mexico´s Integral Consular Management in the United States” written by Francisco Javier Díaz de León and Víctor Peláez Millán of the book La Diplomacia Consular Mexicana en tiempos de Trump (Mexican Consular Diplomacy in Trump´s era).
 
In this chapter, Díaz de León and Peláez Millán evaluate Mexico’s comprehensive consular administration in the United States. They conclude that even though it has been able to face challenges and adapt to new circumstances, it lacks a long-term strategic vision.
 
The chapter is divided into three sections:
  1. Mexican Diaspora in the United States in Trump’s era: fear, hope, and support.
  2. Integral Consular Diplomacy Management.
  3. Areas of opportunities: Strategic Vision of Mexico’s comprehensive consular management.
 
  1. Mexican Diaspora in the United States in Trump’s era: fear, hope, and support.
 
In the first section, Díaz de León and Peláez Millán analyze the political context and the Mexican community’s conditions during Donald Trump’s presidency. They highlight the permanent fear experienced by Mexicans, particularly those undocumented, as a result of the aggressive Anti-immigrant and Anti-Mexican rhetoric and policies, at all levels, including some segments of U.S. society.
 
The authors identify the “legitimacy of bullying” against Mexicans across the nation, starting from the White House. Following the President’s lead, many local, county, and state authorities and politicians presented anti-immigrant actions to curb immigration.
 
Simultaneously, the authors indicate that “the Mexican diaspora is not alone; it has the support of a wide range of organizations and collaboration networks of civil rights and pro-immigration groups, legal representation, community development, [and] educational, health and financial services providers…”[i] This support is the result of the work of the 50 Mexican consulates that, since 1990, included community affairs activities to the traditional protection and documentation services.[ii]
 
Recognizing this new situation, in early 2017, the government of Mexico authorized more than 50 million dollars to implement the new strategy entitled Fortalecimiento para la Atención a Mexicanos en Estados Unidos (Strengthened Assistance to Mexicans in the United States), also referred to as FAMEU. Its objective was to support the Mexican community in the United States during these trying times.[iii]
 
Some of the strategy results in 2017 were the establishment of the Centros de Defensoría (Legal Defense Centers) that provided advice to more than 580,000 people and offered legal assistance and representation to 29,000 Mexicans.[iv]
 
Besides, the Centro de Información y Asistencia a Mexicanos (CIAM), Mexico’s 24 hours consular assistance calling center, received nearly 300,000 phone calls, and the Ventanilla de Asesoría Financiera (Financial Advice Desk) benefitted more than 124,000 Mexicans.[v]

2. Integral Consular Diplomacy Management. 

In the chapter’s second part, Díaz de León and Peláez Millán explain that the consulates of Mexico have a comprehensive work that includes three areas: protection, documentation services, and community affairs, also know as the consular tripod.
 
The authors incorporate to the concept of Mexico’s Consular Diplomacy additional objectives: improve the Mexican community’s well-being and promote their empowerment and inclusion to the host society.[vi] This is an extra element to the Consular Diplomacy ideas that Daniel Hernández Joseph and Reyna Torres Mendivil present in their book’s respective chapters.
 
Díaz de León and Peláez Millán explain that in recent years, the consular network executed an innovation process to improve the quality of its services.[vii] Some of the results were:
  1. The expansion of the Mobile Consulate program.
  2. Access to birth certificates issued in Mexico.
  3. Establishment of the Centros de Defensoría (Legal Defense Centers).
  4. Collaboration with civil rights organizations.
  5. Expansion of community empowerment activities.[viii]
 
Nevertheless, the authors recognize lagging areas, such as training, budget planning, computing equipment, and administrative systems’ reengineering.[ix]  
 
Díaz de León and Peláez Millán state that it is indispensable to identify ways to improve and maximize the use of available resources in addition to work with new partners. It will allow the consulates to respond to the immediate needs of the Mexican community while focusing on the strategic goal of promoting their empowerment and integration.[x]

3. Areas of opportunities: Strategic Vision of Mexico’s comprehensive consular management.  

Regarding areas of opportunities, the authors of the chapter distinguish the following
three:
a) Assuming a proactive role in the construction of a favorable ecosystem for the Mexican Diaspora.
b) Establishing a systematic outreach mechanism towards the 23 million Mexican-American.
c) Strengthening the consulate’s political activities that will add value to Mexico’s Consular Diplomacy.  

The critical element is to incorporate these prospects and the consular services improvement process into a long-term strategic vision that will allow the consulate to achieve the overall foreign policy objectives proactively.
 
Díaz de León and Peláez Millán conclude that the Mexican community appreciates and trusts the Mexican consular network.[xi] Also, Mexico’s Consular Diplomacy enjoys “the legitimacy and credibility to confront the current challenges and take advantage of the opportunities, regardless of U.S. immigration policies and activities.”[xii] Its most significant challenge is to develop a far-reaching plan to benefit the Mexican community north of the border.
 
This reading is a valuable contribution to the concept of the Consular Diplomacy of Mexico as the authors incorporate the Mexican Community’s empowerment as one of its goals. It also poses two crucial questions: a) How to maximize available resources assigned to its consular network? b) How to attract other relevant actors to collaborate in these efforts? Their answer could be the path for the much needed long-term strategic vision.
 
Besides, it is also significant because Díaz de León and Peláez Millán identify three areas of opportunity which could be implemented to continue the transformation of the consular services and programs offered by Mexican consulates in the U.S.
 
 
[i] Díaz de León, Francisco Javier and Peláez Millán, Victor, “Mexico´s Integral Consular Management in the United States” in La Diplomacia Consular Mexicana en tiempos de Trump, Rafael Fernández de Castro (coord.), Mexico, 2018, p. 131.
[ii] Ibid. p. 131.
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] Ibid. p. 132.
[v] Ibid. p. 133.
[vi] Ibid.
[vii] This is similar to other country´s consular services modernization initiatives, as referred by Heijmans, Maaike and Melissen, Jan, in Foreign Ministries and the Rising Challenge of Consular Affairs: Cinderella in the Limelight, Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael, June 7, 2006, p. 7.
[viii] Ibid. p. 136.
[ix] Ibid. p. 137.
[x] Ibid. p. 137-138.
[xi] Ibid. p. 148.
[xii] Ibid. p. 147.


DISCLAIMER: All views expressed on this blog are that of the author and do not represent the opinions of any other authority, agency, organization, employer or company.

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Book Review 2: “Lessons of consular protection for consular diplomacy” (Chp. 4)  in Mexican Consular Diplomacy in Trump´s Era

10/5/2020

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In this chapter of the book La Diplomacia Consular Mexicana en tiempos de Trump (Mexican Consular Diplomacy in Trump´s Era), Ambassador Daniel Hernández Joseph makes an excellent overview of Mexico’s diplomacy confronting the ever-changing immigration issue in the United States. He identifies elements, as he calls them, that worked well in the past, and some that they did not, that could be used in responding to the challenge that Trump´s administration presents.
 
Hernández Joseph does a brilliant job of synthesizing the most critical periods in the history of Mexico-U.S. migration, which includes Mexico´s most relevant actions. He divides the phases as follow:
  • 1821-1848;
  • 1848-1920;
  • 1920-1942;
  • 1942-1964;
  • 1964-1986;
  • 1986-1995;
  • 2000-2001; 
  • 2001-2017;
  • 2017-Today[i]
 
By focusing on Mexico’s consular protection of its nationals in the U.S., Ambassador Hernández Joseph highlights the attributes of the rising Consular Diplomacy: its relevance to the country´s overall foreign policy goals and its increase visibility. Therefore, this chapter is valuable as it presents the evolution of the concept of Mexico´s Consular Diplomacy.
 
He explains some of Mexico´s challenges regarding immigration policies and attitudes in the United States, such as the 1930s massive deportation of Mexicans, and the period of bilateral agreements like the Bracero program, that ran from 1942 until 1964. The Ambassador acknowledges the value of the two-way dialogue and the importance of agreements, even if there is no full compliance.
 
Hernández Joseph also recognizes the government of Mexico´s efforts  to promote the empowerment of the Mexican community north of the border, indicating that it is one of the critical elements of its Consular Diplomacy.
 
Ambassador Hernández Joseph also acknowledges that an area where Mexico has not succeeded is in improving its image in the United States; notably, it has failed in attaining the recognition by the U.S. society of the contributions made by the Mexican community to the country´s wellbeing.[ii]
 
From Mexico´s previous experiences, the Ambassador identifies four elements that helped the country defend its interests in the United States:
  1. Self-management, which focuses on the empowerment of the local community.
  2. Bilaterality, meaning the importance of maintaining a continuous dialogue with U.S. authorities in most aspects related to migration.
  3. Consular leadership, to create trust and strengthen the bonds with the Mexican community.
  4. Interagency collaboration, which creates a unified response to the challenges and demonstrates the compromise of the government toward the Mexican community abroad.[iii] 
 
I agree that these four lessons are essential tools that could be displayed to confront the current anti-immigrant movement in the United States, as part of Mexico´s Consular Diplomacy.
 
To conclude, Ambassador Hernández Joseph states that in “…today´s environment, the biggest challenge is to make that the bilateral dialogue effectively results in benefits and protection of the interests of the migrants.”[iv]
 
As we can see, Mexico´s practice of Consular Diplomacy is broader and deeper than the recognized definition of the term described by Maaike Okano-Heijmans.[v] In this case, as a country that has a large population living overseas, migration bilateral negotiations and issues are the core of its Consular Diplomacy efforts. And it is essential to remember that the agreements and actions have to be brought to the operational level by each consulate.
 
It is remarkable to realize that some of these activities that are now considered Consular Diplomacy were already being implemented by the consulates of Mexico in the United States a century ago. So we need a reevaluation of these activities in light of this new academic framework.
 
An exciting twist about Consular Diplomacy that needs to be further explored is that while the center of the actions is to assist and protect its own citizens abroad, most of the consular activities are undertaken via partnerships with local organizations, authorities, and citizens of the host country. So here we have a case of Public Diplomacy with the foreign policy objective of helping its nationals overseas, with the support of local actors.
 
I recommend this chapter because it presents a summary of Mexico´s consular protection activities in the United States and identifies lessons for today´s Consular Diplomacy challenges.
 
 
[i] Hernández Joseph, Daniel, “Lecciones de la protección consular para la diplomacia consular” in La Diplomacia Consular Mexicana en tiempos de Trump, 2018 p. 92-95.
[ii] Hernández Joseph, Daniel, “Lecciones”, 2018 p. 103.
[iii] Hernández Joseph, Daniel, Ibid. p. 103-105.
[iv] Hernández Joseph, Daniel, Ibid. p. 105.
[v] See previous post on Consular Diplomacy LINK and Okano-Heijmans, Maaike, “Change in Consular Assistance and the Emergence of Consular Diplomacy”, Netherlands Institute of International Relations ´Clingendael´, February 2010, p.1.


DISCLAIMER: All views expressed on this blog are that of the author and do not represent the opinions of any other authority, agency, organization, employer, or company.

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Book Review 1: Mexican Consular Diplomacy in Trump´s Era (Prologue and Introduction).

10/1/2020

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Mexico´s Consular Diplomacy has been developing slowly since the day that the country lost half of its land to the United States in 1848.[i] As a result, many of the Mexicans who stayed in the new U.S. territory needed consular assistance from the government to protect their rights.[ii]
 
Since then, it has had to deal with different crises, from the mass deportation of even U.S. citizens from Mexican descent during the Great Depression and the operation “Wetback” of 1954, as well as from the immigration reform of the mid-1980s which granted status to millions of Mexicans, to September 11, 2001, and the current anti-immigrant, anti-Mexicans sentiments headed by the U.S. President.
 
However, little has been written about it, particularly in English. Only two studies have been published about Mexican Consular Diplomacy, both in Spanish. First, the Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior No. 101 titled Consular Diplomacy: Service Calling and Strategic instrument of Foreign Policy in 2014; and second, the 2018 book La Diplomacia Consular Mexicana en tiempos de Trump, (Mexican Consular Diplomacy in Trump´s Era).
 
As the coordinator of the book, Rafael Fernández de Castro,[iii] clearly states, “This book could fill the existing void in the scholarly literature about the concept of Consular Diplomacy. Indeed there is no bibliography related [to the topic] as it is a concept that has been developing thru a unique practice: the consular activity displayed by Mexico in the United States.”[iv]
 
To expand the audience of the book and the knowledge about Mexican Consular Diplomacy, in the coming weeks, I will be posting a review of most of the chapters of the book.
 
But before going further, let´s contextualize the moment of the publication, as it is very focused on the current situation in the United States with the Presidency of Donald Trump.
 
On June 15, 2015, the well-known businessman Donald Trump announced he was running for President in the 2016 elections. In his speech, he accused Mexico of “bringing their worst people,” including criminals and rapists, and promise to build a “great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall.”[v]
 
Against all the odds, Trump was not only the Republican Party presidential candidate, but he won the presidency thru the Electoral College on November 8, 2016. In addition to his offensive language towards Mexico and Mexicans, during the campaign threatened to suspend the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and he pushed for a very aggressive anti-immigrant policy, including regular immigrants, not just the undocumented ones.
 
After his inauguration in January 2017, one of Trump´s first acts was issuing several Executive Orders, mainly focused on immigration issues.[vi] It has been said that Trump´s speeches and actions are one of the reasons for the increase in hate incidents and crimes across the country even before he took office.[vii]
 
So, let’s say that the implications for a Trump presidency were a clear and present danger for Mexico, particularly for the millions of Mexicans who make the United States their home, regardless of their immigration status.
 
After Trump´s election, the group of people that originally met in August 2016 to review the Institute for Mexicans Abroad, was invited to write a chapter for the book.
 
Prologue: The evolution of migration and its effect on consular work
 
In the book´s prologue, the then Under Secretary for North American Affairs, Carlos M. Sada, the only person in Mexico’s modern history to head the three biggest Consulates and the Embassy in the U.S., describes that the growth of the Mexican community north of the border pushed the government of Mexico to intensify its consular protection and documentation[viii] activities, during the latter part of the 20th Century. And later on, at the onset of the new millennium,[ix] to expand them to facilitate their integration to the host country.[x]
 
Sada explains that at the beginning, Consular Diplomacy “was a necessary tool rather than a deliberate strategy.”[xi] And it entailed “expanding the reach of consular activities by the Consulates with the objective of offering better and more options, not only for an enhanced consular protection but as defense, response, and visibility mechanisms.”[xii]
 
The Undersecretary also describes the consular rapprochement with state and local actors with influence for the benefit of the Mexican community, that in some cases, developed in the creation of several non-governmental organizations such as Cien Amigos in Sacramento, Mexico Innova in Los Angeles, or Aguila Alliance in Austin, Texas.
 
The prologue also includes a brief description of what the consulates have done after the inauguration of President Trump, emphasizing the partnership developed between the consulates and all types of authorities, companies, trade and non-profit organizations, lawyers, and the civil society that recognize the valuable relationship with Mexico.
 
Introduction: the Concept of Consular Diplomacy and the organization of the book.
 
In the introduction, Fernández de Castro details the origins of the book and gives a general overview of its content. He indicates that Diplomacia Consular Mexicana is divided into two sections. The first part focuses on three topics: the development of the ´alt-right` movement in the U.S., the emergence of ´fake news´, and Trump`s relationship with the press and the cooperation and conflict at the border. I will not review these chapters at this time.
 
The second part of the book has ten chapters, which were written by mostly Mexican diplomats who have extensive consular experience in the United States. Here is a list of the chapters and their authors.
 
         4. Lessons from consular protection for consular diplomacy / Daniel Hernández Joseph.

​     5. Consular Diplomacy:  A paradigm in the Mexico - U.S. relation / Reyna Torres Mendivil.

     6. Mexico`s Integral Consular Management in the United States. Its evolution for the service of the diaspora and its strategic objectives / Francisco Javier Díaz de León and Víctor Peláez Millán.

           7. Consular Diplomacy in the face of U.S. demography and society in the 21st Century / Juan Carlos Mendoza Sánchez.

         8. The synergies with other communities: the case of Tricamex / Jorge A. Schiavon and Guillermo Ordorica R.

      9. Consular diplomacy and outreach to strategic partners / Vanessa Calva Ruiz.

​  10. Mexican consular diplomacy and the risks of administrative hydrocephaly / José Octavio Tripp.​

     11. Staying at the forefront: the challenge of the consulates of Mexico in the United States / Rafael Laveaga Rendón.

     12. The meaning of a special relation: Mexico´s relationship with Texas in the light of California´s experience / Carlos González Gutiérrez.

​     13. The role of Consular Diplomacy in a transborder context: The case of CaliBaja / Marcela Celorio.
* As mentioned, the first section of the book with three chapters won’t be reviewed at this time. This is why the list starts with chapter 4.

Also, he briefly analyses the development of Mexico´s Consular Diplomacy. He explains that “…in the last 25 years, the consulates have deployed a series of activities that resemble that of a regional embassy: in addition to the traditional [consular] tripod (consular protection, documentation and communitarian work) [they] develop economic promotion, political lobbying and what is known as Public Diplomacy…meaning thru different actions in the media and cultural promotion [consulates] work to improve the image of Mexico.”[xiii]
 
He concludes that even though “Consular Diplomacy resembles that of diplomatic endeavor… it still maintains a special affinity with Mexicans in the United States.”[xiv]
 
Overall, the prologue and the introduction set the stage for the experiences that seasoned Mexican diplomats share in the second part of the book. However, there is no review of scholarly literature about Consular Diplomacy as well as lacks any discussion of theoretical approaches on the subject.
 
What the book does undoubtedly is to share with the reader the wide variety of initiatives and activities undertaken by consulates, some unique and localized, and others instrumented throughout the consular network. With these examples, one could eventually develop a conceptual basis for consular Diplomacy as practiced by Mexico.
 
Now let´s move on to the chapter written by Ambassador Hernández Joseph, titled “Lesson from consular protection for consular diplomacy”, which I will review in the next post.

[i] Hernández Joseph, Daniel, Protección Consular Mexicana, México, 2015, p. 49-50.
[ii] Hernández Joseph, Daniel, “Lecciones de la protección consular para la diplomacia consular” in La Diplomacia Consular Mexicana en tiempos de Trump, 2018 p. 94-95.
[iii] He is a well-known Mexican foreign policy analyst and currently is the director of the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies of the University of California, San Diego.
[iv] Translated by the author. Fernández de Castro, Rafael ,“Introducción” in La Diplomacia Consular Mexicana en tiempos de Trump, Mexico 2018, p. 17.
[v] Neate, Rupert, “Donald Trump announces US presidential run with eccentric speech” in The Guardian, June 16, 2015.
[vi] To see a comprehensive list of changes made to immigration laws and policies since the start of Trump´s presidency see Pierce, Sarah and Bolter, Jessica Dismantling and Reconstructing the U.S. Immigration System: A Catalog of Changes under the Trump Presidency by the Migration Policy Institute, July 2020.
[vii] See for example Hassan, Adeel, “Hate-Crime Violence Hits 16-Year High, F.B.I. Reports”, in The New York Times, November 12, 2019, and Folley, Aris, “Hate crimes rose by 226 percent in the countries where Trump hosted campaign rallies in 2016: study” in The Hill, March 23, 2019.
[viii] Consular documentation or documentary are services that the consulate provides, such as issuing passports, visas, birth registrations and powers of attorney, as well as authentication of documents.
[ix] In 2003 the Institute of Mexicans Abroad was established and that greatly expanded the community affairs activities of the consulates, including the establishment of “Ventanillas de Salud” (Health Windows), the inclusion of educational programs and the use of remittances for the development of local communities. To learn more about the government of Mexico´s engagement with its diaspora, read some of the multiple publications of Alexandra Delano included in Google Scholar. See also Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior # 107 Comunidades Mexicanas en el Exterior, May-August 2016; de Cossío Díaz, Roger, et. al., Mexicanos en el Exterior: Trayectoria y perspectivas 1990-2010, Instituto Matías Romero, 2010 and Laglagaron, Laura, Protection through Integration: The Mexican Government Efforts to Aid Migrants in the United States, Migration Policy Institute, January 2010.
[x] Sada, Carlos M., “Prólogo: La evolución de la migración y su efecto en el trabajo consular” in La Diplomacia Consular Mexicana en tiempos de Trump, Mexico 2018, p. 9-10.
[xi] Sada, Carlos M., “Prólogo” p. 11.
[xii] Ibid.
[xiii] Fernández de Castro, Rafael, “Introducción: El concepto de Diplomacia Consular y la organización del libro” in La Diplomacia Consular Mexicana en tiempos de Trump, Mexico 2018, p. 18.
[xiv] Fernández de Castro, Rafael, “Introducción”, p. 19.

 
 
DISCLAIMER: All views expressed on this blog are that of the author and do not represent the opinions of any other authority, agency, organization, employer or company.



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Cultural Diplomacy: foreign policy thru exchanges and the arts.

9/24/2020

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Another element of the new diplomacy is Cultural Diplomacy; however, just because it is part of the novel tools of diplomacy does not mean it is not old. Actually, it is one of the most traditional forms of Public Diplomacy.
 
The best know example is the development of cultural institutions for the promotion of the language and culture of European powers. Thus France's Alliance Française was established in 1883, the Società Dante Alighieri of Italy in 1889, United Kingdom's British Council in 1934, Goethe Institute of Germany n 1951, and Spain's Cervantes Institute just in 1991.
 
Nowadays, the most extensive example is the Confucius Institute of China, which has grown so fast that, in some instances has generated a backlash.[i] Interestingly enough, the United States never established an overseas cultural institution but did not mean that it did not engage in Cultural Diplomacy, such as the famous Fulbright scholarship program or the European Erasmus initiative.
 
The Institute of Cultural Diplomacy states that:

​"Cultural Diplomacy may best be described as a course of actions, which are based on and utilize the exchange of ideas, values, traditions and other aspects of cultural or identity, whether to strengthen relationships, enhance socio-cultural cooperation, promote national interests and beyond..."[ii]
 
The idea of promoting exchanges of ideas, people, and cultural knowledge to foster better understanding and relations for the benefit of foreign policy objectives lies behind the concept of Soft Power. However, Cultural Diplomacy has been implemented long before it was coined in 1990 by Joseph Nye, an Emeritus Distinguished Service Professor at Harvard University.
 
The next post, I will take about Soft Power, Nation Branding, Influence, and Reputation, so let's continue with today's theme.
 
The creation of a Ph.D. in Cultural Diplomacy demonstrates the significant development of this field of study. I don't know of any other specialized diplomacy area that offers this. Besides, the amount of articles about this topic in the digital library (PD Hub) of the Center of Public Diplomacy is enormous, as well as many issues of its CPD Perspectives research papers.
 
Under the umbrella of Cultural Diplomacy, many hyphenated diplomacies have developed, particularly in the last couple of decades; from Gastrodiplomacy (link al post) to Sports, Science, Think Tank, and even Music (Jazz, K-pop, and J-pop) Diplomacy. However, the bread and butter of Cultural Diplomacy are the following two activities:
  1. Exchanges.[iii]
  2. Broadcasting.[iv]
 
Regarding exchanges, the basic concept is that a person or a country is less likely to go to war if you know them or at least are more likely to being influence than not. Therefore, interactions foster collaboration and diminish the possibility of conflict.  Its scope is extensive and goes from language teaching and skills training to multi-country research projects, like the CERN and from regular tourism and international business and trade contacts to entertainment such as movies, music or the performing arts.  However, the biggest critique is that the results of these types of connections take a long time, and in most cases, it is challenging to measure its successes or lack of them.
 
As for broadcasting, nowadays has gone into a bit of a slump, but during the Cold War, it was on its prime. The United States had not one but two agencies devoted to it in the middle of the 1990s: the U.S. Information Agency[v] and Broadcasting Board of Governors.[vi] And the BBC has been an icon of a multimedia powerhouse for many years.
 
Other countries have state-run or sponsored radio and television stations, such as is RT of Russia, TeleSUR of Venezuela, and Al Jazeera of Qatar. Almost all of them now have YouTube channels, and Facebook and Instagram accounts for the same purpose, which is part of these countries' digital diplomacy (link al post the digital diplomacy=.  
 
A relevant aspect of Cultural Diplomacy is that, even though governments are still the prime promoters of these types of engagements with people of other nations, there is a very active role of the non-state actors, including regular citizens.[vii] This is particularly important as non-state actors are typically seen as neutral or less-politically influenced by the governments and their ultimate Cultural Diplomacy goals. [viii]  
 
In the field of Cultural Diplomacy, Mexico has been successfully achieving some of its foreign policy goals with the assistance of its cultural heritage and influence. From the Revolution's aftermaths in the 1930s, with the Muralism artistic movement and the golden age of Mexican cinema to soap operas and NAFTA authorization in the US Congress.[ix]

​In a later post, I will write about this, as there is little information in English regarding Mexico´s Cultural Diplomacy.
 


[i] For a updated list see “Latest Reports on Confucius Institutes Controversies”
[ii] “What is Cultural Diplomacy” in Institute of Cultural Diplomacy webpage.
[iii] For a brief analysis of psychological effect of exchanges see Scott-Smith, Giles “Exchange Programs and Public Diplomacy” in Routledge Handbook of Public Diplomacy, Nancy Snow and Philip M. Taylor (eds.), 1st edition, 2009 pp. 50-56.
[iv] See Cull, Nicholas, Public Diplomacy: Lessons from the Past, CPD Perspectives Series, 2009, particularly section 2.5 in page 21.
[v] It was disbanded in 1999 For a brief about the agency see Chodkoswki, William M., “Fact Sheet: The United States Information Agency “in American Security Project webpage, November 2012.
[vi] In 2017 the name was changed to US Agency for Global Media.
[vii] See “Citizen Diplomacy” Winter 2012 issue of the Public Diplomacy Magazine.
[viii] Mueller, Sherry, “The Nexus of U.S. Public Diplomacy and Citizen Diplomacy” in Routledge Handbook of Public Diplomacy, Nancy Snow and Philip M. Taylor (eds.), 1st edition, 2009 p. 103
[ix] See for example Starr, Pamela K. “Mexican Public Diplomacy: Hobbled by History, Interdependence and Asymetric Power” in “Middle Power” Summer 2009 issue of the Public Diplomacy Magazine and “Cooperación y diplomacia consular: experiencias y travesías. Entrevista al embajador Jorge Alberto Lozoya” in Revista Mexicana de Política Exterior, Vol 85, February 2009 p. 253-267.
 
DISCLAIMER: All views expressed on this blog are that of the author and do not represent the opinions of any other authority, agency, organization, employer or company.

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More than Tacos: Mexico´s scrumptious, yet unknown Gastrodiplomacy

9/18/2020

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As mentioned in the previous post, Mexico´s Gastrodiplomacy efforts have not been analyzed or recognized; therefore, they are relatively unknown.
 
A few articles cite the diplomatic efforts of the government of Mexico[i] regarding its work to register its traditional cuisine in the list of UNESCO´s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010, together with “The Gastronomic meal of the French”. It was the first inscription in the registry of a traditional practice around food.
 
After this historical achievement, other countries such as South Korea, Japan, Turkey, and nations around the Mediterranean have successfully registered a total of 18 “food preparation” elements with the participation of 26 countries. [ii]
 
Before moving in a bit deeper, it is worth asking: do efforts of registering food preparations as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity can be considered Gastrodiplomacy? If not, is this the reason why Mexico´s efforts in this regard have not been included as Gastrodiplomacy, or are there other reasons?
 
Most articles analyzing countries´ Gastrodiplomacy campaigns, particularly the ones about Peru, South Korea, and Japan, included the stated goal of the inscription of its culinary traditions in UNESCO´s list. Therefore, I can assume that this activity forms part of these countries' Gastrodiplomacy efforts. Consequently, Mexico´s actions to achieve this goal must also be considered as Gastrodiplomacy. 
 
In 1996, Mexican scholars started the idea of the “recognition of particularly culinary practices as complete expressions of a living and dynamic heritage.”[iii]

In 2002, a group of Mexican multidisciplinary academics, led by Yuriria Iturriaga and Cristina Barron, joined forces to begin the preparation of the nomination of the cultural food system of the Mexican people as an Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.[iv]
 
A key player of all these efforts and the follow up is Gloria López Morales, Founder and President of the Conservatorio de la Cultura Gastronómica Mexicana, a non-profit organization registered at the UNESCO. 
 
The 2005 nomination of Mexico titled “People of Corn, Mexico´s Ancestral Cuisine. Rituals, Ceremonies and Cultural Practices of the Cuisine of the Mexican People.” was rejected.[v] However, a debate started about the recognition of cuisine and other food and beverage related traditions as part of the registry,[vi] which concluded in 2010 with the inscription of Mexico´s traditional cuisine and the Gastronomic meal of the French as the first ones, as mentioned above.
 
During this time, just before the presentation and, particularly, after the rejection of the registry in late 2005, the government of Mexico began an aggressive but under-the-radar Consular Diplomacy initiative in the United States and Canada, focused on food and cultural heritage. It was part of an overall Gastrodiplomacy strategy to achieve the inscription of Mexican cuisine as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
 
One of the first activities of the consular Gastrodiplomacy effort was the organization of a “Jornada Informativa”[vii] focused on Mexican chefs and restaurant owners in the United States and Canada in June 2005, a few months before the UNESCO rejected Mexico´s nomination.
 
As a result of the meeting, most of the participants agreed to establish an organization of Mexican restaurants and food distributors in the United States and Canada.[viii]

The Mexican Restaurant Association (MERA) held its first national summit in 2009, as part of the 5th Trinational Mexican Gastronomy and Culture Week.[ix] Unfortunately, it later disappeared.
 
Another initiative that developed during that 2005 meeting was the creation of the Trinational Gastronomical Festival or “Semana Trinacional de Gastronomía.” This activity took place around the celebration of the Day of the Dead (November 1st and 2nd, 2005),[x] with the participation of most of the Consulates of Mexico in North America, [xi] together with Mexican restaurants and other organizations, such as Mexican beer distributors, Tequila and Mezcal producers.[xii] The Festival continued for another six years until 2011.
 
All participants of the Jornada Informativa del IME: Programa Trinacional de Gastronomía Mexicana signed a letter to the Director-General of UNESCO in support of Mexico´s nomination to the designation as Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, that was going to be voted on November 2005.[xiii]
 
As these initiatives demonstrate, there was a comprehensive effort by the government of Mexico, together with non-governmental organizations, to highlight the value of its traditional cuisine, and to have it recognized as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. It included precise actions in the multilateral arena of UNESCO,[xiv] but also a specific work plan for the Mexican restaurant community in the United States and Canada, supported by the network of Consulates of Mexico in North America.
 
Using Paul Rockewer´s definition of Gastrodiplomacy as a “…concerted public diplomacy campaign by a national government that combines culinary and cultural diplomacy – backed up by monetary investment – to raise its national brand status…”[xv] I believe that Mexico´s efforts clearly can be considered as Gastrodiplomacy.
 
One can ask, was the goal achieved? In the end, in 2010, Mexico´s traditional cuisine was included in the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, reaffirming its position as a robust international cuisine and hopefully winning hearts, minds, and stomachs all across Canada and the United States.
 
Even after these initiatives ended later, the government of Mexico has continued to promote it´s cuisine abroad through different activities. These will be analyzed in another post, hoping to confirm that are actual Gastrodiplomacy actions.
 
 


[i] See Wilson, Rachel, “Comida Peruana para el Mundo: Gastrodiplomacy, the Culinary Nation Brand and the Context of National Cuisine in Peru” in Exchange: The Journal of Public Diplomacy, Vol. 2, No.. 1, 2011, p. 15; Zhang, Juyan, “The Food of the Worlds: Mapping and Comparing Contemporary Gastrodiplomacy Campaigns” in International Journal of Communication Vol 9, 2015, p. 569; Chappel-Sokol, Sam, “Culinary Diplomacy: Breaking Bread to Win Hearts and Minds” in The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, Vol. 8, 2013, p. 165; and Bestor, Theodore C., “The Most F(l)avored Nation Status: The Gastrodiplomacy of Japan´s Global Promotion of Cuisine”, in Public Diplomacy Magazine, Winter 2004, p.58.
[ii] See UNESCO ´s ¨food preparation” category of the registry in the following link https://ich.unesco.org/en/lists?term[]=vocabulary_thesaurus-10
[iii] CONACULTA, “Relatoria, Capítulo 1: El Expediente Pueblo de Maíz, La Cocina Ancestral de México” in Cuadernos Patrimonio Cultural y Turismo, No. 10, 2014, p. 14.
[iv] Ibid. Note: thru the Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity  90 intangible masterpieces were recognized in three different sessions (2001, 2003 and 2005).  It was not till 2006 when the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, adopted in 2003, came in to force. Therefore, in the 2008 meeting, those 90 masterpieces were recognized as elements of the Convention.
[v] To find out some of the reason why it was rejected read Medina, F. Xavier, “Mediterranean diet, culture and heritage: Challenges for a new conception” in Public Health Nutrition, Vol. 12, Num. 9A, September 2009, p. 1618.
[vi] For an analysis of the discussions whether a cuisine or food can be an UNESCO´s intangible cultural heritage of humanity see Romagnoli, Marco “Gastronomic heritage elements at UNESCO: problems, reflections and intepretations of a new heritage category” in International Journal of Intangible Heritage, Vol 14, 2019 p. 158-171 and De Miguel Molina, Maria, et al., “Intangible Heritage and Gastronomy: The Impact of UNESCO Gastronomy Elements” in Journal of Culinary Science and Technology, Vol. 14, No. 4, October 2016, p. 293-310
[vii] The “Jornadas Informativas” or “Migrant-Focused Conferences” are organized by the Institute of Mexican Abroad (IME) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico that brought to the country different groups of authorities, organizations, and leaders in the U.S. and Canada to learn about Mexico´s efforts toward its immigrant population in those countries and exchange best practices. Each conference or Jornada has a specific theme or focus, such as Health, Financial Education or Gastronomy. For more information about the IME and a description of the Jornadas see: Laglagadore, Laureen Protection through Integration: The Mexican Government´s Efforts to Aid Migrants in the United States, Migration Policy Instituto, January 2010. Additionally visit Jornadas Informativas del IME  (in Spanish).
[viii] Laglagaron, p. 22.
[ix] “Inicia V Semana Trinacional de Gastronomía y Cultura Mexicana”, in Protocolo, October 30, 2009. The national summit of MERA was held in Kansa City, Missouri, during the official opening of the festivities that took place across North America.
[x] This was a very clever way to also promote the Day of the Dead, a 2003 UNESCO´s Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage designation of 2013, for the celebration of the trinational gastronomic week.
[xi] Ponce, Karla, “Día de Muertos en Tres Países” in El Universal, October 28, 2005.
[xii] Martinez M., Pedro Salvador, “Comiendo con los Muertos” en la Semana de Gastronomia y Cultura Mexicana en EU, Canadá y México”, in Azteca 21, October 24, 2005.
[xiii] Instituto de los Mexicanos en el Exterior, 25a Jornada Informativa del IME: Programa Trinacional de Gastronomía Mexicana. SRE, 2005, p. 80. 
[xiv] See Marco Romagnoli (2019) He states that “Mexico organized an international and scientific meeting in Campeche in 2008 to enhance and promote the heritage value of cuisine.” Its outcome was the “Declaración de Campeche”. Additionally, Mexico supported Peru´s proposal for an expert meeting that took place in France in April 2009, which “paved the way for the acceptance of culinary nominations and inscriptions by UNESCO in 2010”. p. 165
[xv] Rockower, Paul “Recipes for gastrodiplomacy” in Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Vol. 8, No. 3, 2012, p. 236.


DISCLAIMER: All views expressed on this blog are that of the author and do not represent the opinions of any other authority, agency, organization, employer or company.


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Delectable diplomacy: Gastrodiplomacy

9/14/2020

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“Gastrodiplomacy is quickly becoming a tool of foreign policy to increase nation brand status and broader cultural appeal as means to increase soft power resources.”[i]


[i] Rockower, Paul, “Recipes for gastrodiplomacy” in Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Vol. 8, No. 3, 2012, p. 244.
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The third component of the new kind of doing diplomacy is Gastrodiplomacy. 
 
As I mentioned in the first post, the term was created in 2002 by The Economist in an article about Thailand's efforts to “…boost the number…” of Thai restaurants around the world and “to make it easier for foreign restaurants to import Thai food…”[i]  
 
Since then, a substantial number of studies and articles about Gastrodiplomacy were created, particularly by Paul Rockower, founder of the Levantine Public Diplomacy organization. Besides, Sam Chappel -Sokol also developed what he calls “culinary diplomacy”, which is different from Gastrodiplomacy, as you will learn later on this post.
 
The highlight of the study of winning hearts and minds through the stomach was the publication of an issue about Gastrodiplomacy in the Public Diplomacy magazine in 2014.
 
As far as I know, from recent online searches, it seems that the term is less used nowadays. Maybe because it was a mere fad or because, as some have written,[ii] it was not real diplomacy at all, but just a tool of public/cultural diplomacy that did not deserve a particular category in the academic world.
 
In his seminal work of 2012 “Recipes for gastrodiplomacy”, Rockower defines Gastrodiplomacy as “how countries conduct cultural diplomacy through promotion of their cuisine.”[iii] He explains that it “uses a country’s culinary delights as means to conduct public diplomacy and to raise nation brand awareness.”[iv] 
 
The author explains that Gastrodiplomacy is not only food tastings and cooking demonstrations offered by embassies, but a “ concerted public diplomacy campaign by a national government that combines culinary and cultural diplomacy – backed up by monetary investment – to raise its national brand status…”[v]
 
Rockower also differentiates this concept from other similar ideas, like culinary or food diplomacies,[vi] citing the work done by Sam Chappel-Sokol in “Culinary Diplomacy: Breaking Bread to Win Hearts and Minds”.  
 
In the second part of the article, Rockower briefly explains the Gastrodiplomacy efforts developed by Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand, as well as dwelling a bit about some people-to-people Gastrodiplomacy initiatives such as the  Conflict Kitchen restaurant in Pittsburg, U.S.A (now closed).
 
As mentioned before, the other scholar who delves into the concept of Culinary Diplomacy is Sam Chappel-Soko, who includes what Rockower defines as Gastrodiplomacy. In his article (see above), he delineates culinary diplomacy “as the use of food and cuisine as an instrument to create cross-cultural understanding in the hopes of improving interactions and cooperation.”[vii] And states that there are two types: public and private, being the former part of public and cultural diplomacy, while the latter “occurs behind closed doors.”[viii]
 
It is interesting to appreciate that most scholarly articles about Gastrodiplomacy focus on several efforts by Asia-Pacific nations such as Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, and Taiwan, with a few others like Peru´s Gastrodiplomacy.[ix]
 
However, little to nothing has been written from a Gastrodiplomacy perspective about Mexico´s efforts to obtain the recognition of its cuisine as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the UNESCO (achieved in 2010 after a failed attempt in 2005 titled “People of Corn, Mexico´s Ancestral Cuisine”),[x] Neither about the prolonged under-the-radar Consular Diplomacy activities around Mexican food in the United States in the first decade of the new millennium.
 
One reason could be that these activities are not considered Gastrodiplomacy, so there is no room to include them in scholarly studies and other articles. Another one could be that most of the papers and reports are written in Spanish.
 
Additionally, it seems there has been an absence of the analysis undertaken, not just by the government, but by scholars and practitioners alike. I believe this is the real reason why the Gastrodiplomacy strategy implemented by Mexico is not well known. Therefore, one of the goals of the blog is to share with the world these efforts.  You can see a few papers about this topic in the Interesting Links section.
 
For a comprehensive list of published studies about Gastrodiplomacy, you can visit this webpage: Levantine Public Diplomacy organization.
 


[i] The Economist, “Food as ambassador, Thailand´s gastrodiplomacy”, February 21, 2002.
[ii] See Riordan, Shaun, “Stop inventing “New Diplomacies” in CPD blog, June 21, 2017; Höne, Katharina, “Would the Real Diplomacy Please Stand Up” and Brown, John, “Diplomacies from public to pubic”, Huffington Post, March 23, 2016.
[iii] Rockower, Paul “Recipes for gastrodiplomacy” in Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Vol. 8, No. 3, 2012, p. 235.
[iv] Ibid.
[v] Ibid. p. 236.
[vi] Paul Rockover indicates that food diplomacy “…involves the use of food aid and food relief in a crises or catastrophe” in “The State of Gastrodiplomacy” Public Diplomacy Magazine, No. 11, Winter 2014, p 12.
[vii] Chappel-Sokol, Sam, “Culinary Diplomacy: Breaking Bread to Win Hearts and Minds” in The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, Vol. 8, 2013, p. 162.
[viii] Ibid.
[ix] For a deeper analysis of the cuisine diplomacy of these six countries from an strategic communication perspective see Juyan Zhang´s “The Food of the Worlds: Mapping and Comparing Contemporary Gastrodiplomacy Campaigns” in International Journal of Communication Vol. 9, 2015, p. 568-591.
[x] Interesting enough, in “Comida Peruana para el Mundo: Gastrodiplomacy, the Culinary Nation Brand and the Context of National Cuisine in Peru” Rachel Wilson recognizes that one of the main objectives of Peru´s Gastrodiplomacy effort was “having its cuisine deemed part of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity…” in Exchange: The Journal of Public Diplomacy, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2011, p. 13.

​DISCLAIMER: All views expressed on this blog are that of the author and do not represent the opinions of any other authority, agency, organization, employer or company.

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Consular Diplomacy during the COVID-19 Pandemic

9/10/2020

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“… the 2020 coronavirus crisis has made assistance to nationals in en masse crises the most visible 21st century function of ministries of foreign affairs (MFAs).”[i]
 
If people have questioned the existence of Consular Diplomacy, the pandemic caused by COVID-19 has been a wakeup call. Almost all countries across the globe faced the challenge of bringing home citizens that were stuck overseas as most of the world closed its border for traveling.  
 
Because of its staggering size, even the wealthiest countries were not prepared for the scale of the consular assistance demanded as a result of the pandemic.
 
Consular officials around the world have to negotiate not only with local and central authorities but also airlines, tour operators, and sometimes even individual hotels or Airbnb hosts to assist their citizens. All these while receiving an unprecedented demand for help, via telephone, but more often, social media from abroad and at home.
 
There is a shared understanding that the most developed plans to provide consular assistance in a crisis fell short as the COVID-19 pandemic presented embassies, consular offices, and foreign ministries with enormous demand from all across the world, almost at the exact time.
 
At this trying times, consular officials need to be recognized for dealing, the best they could, with this crisis of global dimensions.
 
Here you can find some of the responses to the need to repatriate hundreds of thousands, if not millions of citizens that were stranded overseas as country after country closed their borders to quell the pandemic.
 
The Lowly Institute of Australia stated that “In April 2020, the scale of the consular crisis has become crystal clear. Of Australia’s one million-strong diaspora and several hundred thousand short-term trip-makers, 200,000 have returned home in the past three weeks.
 
The United Kingdom reported spending £75 million to repatriate 300,000 of its citizens abroad. The United States has repatriated 43,000 Americans from 78 countries since late January. The list goes on.”[ii]
 
In Canada, the “Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne has taken some unconventional means to bring home thousands of Canadians stranded abroad by the COVID-19 pandemic, from securing landing rights for planes over text message to directly negotiating flight fares with airline CEOs.”[iii] So, by the end of May, the Canadian government was able to repatriate close to 40,000 people from 100 countries on 356 flights.[iv]
 
Even private companies, in this case, Sunwing Airlines, were assisting in the repatriation efforts, by giving away without charge empty seats in their planes to nearly 5,000 that were not customers of the airline. In total, the airline stated that it brought back over 60,000 Canadians stranded abroad.
 
Besides working on bringing back home its citizens, Global Affairs Canada convened the Ministerial Coordination Group on COVID-19, formed by 15 countries, which announced a Declaration on Maintaining Essential Global Links amid the pandemic on April 17, 2020.
 
The U.S. State Department stated that by April 1, 2020, “has helped more than 30,000 Americans stranded in 60-plus countries board 375 U.S.-bond flights.[v] However, some of its citizens complained about its slow reaction compared with other countries such as Germany.  In response, a State Department spokesperson commented that “the State has never undertaken an evacuation effort of such geographic breadth, scale, and complexity in its 230-year history.”[vi]
 
Regardless of the complaints, on June 12, 2020, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved a resolution “commending career professionals at the Department of State for their extensive efforts to repatriate United States citizens and legal permanent residents during the COVID-19 pandemic”.[vii]
 
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico has also worked on the repatriation of nationals overseas. It publishes on social media a daily update on the number of Mexicans safely returned home and nearly weekly statistics of Mexicans who unfortunately had COVID-19, including the almost 2,173 who died abroad. By July 29, embassies and consulates of Mexico around the world assisted in the repatriation of nearly 16,500 Mexicans stranded abroad. 
 
In an unprecedented consular action, on July 11, 2020, a Mexican Air force airplane repatriated 245 urns with the remains of Mexicans that died from COVID-19 in the area of responsibility of the Consulate General of Mexico in New York City.  
 
By sheer volume, 1.3 million persons repatriated via commercial flights since the beginning of the pandemic, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom had one of the biggest challenges. Meanwhile, the European Union estimates it helped with the repatriation of 590,000 of its citizens abroad.
 
Every country across the globe had to assist their nationals, and sometimes citizens of other countries, during the pandemic.
 
We just have to recognize their commitment and public service in these challenging times. Thank you all consular officials around the world!  
 
Before closing, I want to bring to your attention a fascinating research paper by a great Consular Diplomacy scholar, Jan Melissen. In it, he describes that a more significant challenge for ministries of foreign affairs than provide consular assistance to their national abroad is how to communicate with them to change behaviors successfully. The paper has two versions: the short one posted in the Devpolicyblog, and the more scholarly work in Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies Journal.
 
 
[i] Melissen, Jan, “Nationals in crisis and diplomacy´s domestic communication challenge” in DevpolicyBlog, April 27, 2020.
[ii] Oliver, Alex, “Post-COVID-19 diplomacies will be refinanced”, in the World after COVID-19 by the Lowly Institute
[iii] Carbert, Michele “Minister takes unconventional diplomatic steps to repatriate stranded Canadians amid COVID-19” in the Globe and Mail, April 14, 2020.
[iv] Harris, Kathleen, “Government operation to bring home pandemic-stranded Canadians almost complete, says MP” in CBC, May 22, 2020.
[v] Williams, Abigail and Li, David K. “State Department warns Americans stranded overseas that time is running out” in NBC News, April 1st, 2020.
[vi] Cachero, Paulina, “Americans stranded abroad complain that other countries are evacuating their citizens way faster than the US government is” in The Insider, April 3, 2020.
[vii] S.Res.567 - A resolution commending career professionals at the Department of State for their extensive efforts to repatriate United States citizens and legal permanent residents during the COVID-19 pandemic, United States Senate, 116th Congress, June 11, 2020.

 
DISCLAIMER: All views expressed on this blog are that of the author and do not represent the opinions of any other authority, agency, organization, employer or company.
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    Rodrigo Márquez Lartigue 

    Diplomat interested in the development of Consular and Public Diplomacies. 

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