The former Mexican ambassador to the United States talked trade and migration during a luncheon to celebrate the Arizona-Mexico Commission’s 60th birthday.
Geronimo Gutierrez told the crowd the original North American Free Trade Agreement was an example of good global leadership by North America.
If ratified, Gutierrez thinks the NAFTA reboot, officially called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, would benefit everyone. One reason is that it’s set up to get more small- and medium-sized businesses involved in international trade, he said.
Gutierrez later pivoted to the photo of a Salvadoran father and daughter lying dead in the Rio Grande.
“Well, here we’re clearly not an example on global leadership. We just failed miserably,” he said.
Mexico, for example, has not done enough to stop people from feeling forced to migrate, Gutierrez said. The United States has not recognized that migrants come here because of demand, he said.