Good morning and thank you. It is a privilege for me to welcome everyone this morning to the Foreign Ministry.
First of all, I would like to welcome the heads of Mexico's diplomatic offices abroad. Ambassadors, Consuls, thank you for making the effort to be here. This is a tradition that began with a much-loved former Foreign Secretary, Fernando Solana, and it has become one of the Foreign Ministry's best work practices.
I also welcome the lawmakers who are here with us. Senators and Deputies, thank you for doing this and being here with us and thank you for the legislature's ongoing support for our foreign policy.
I am very pleased to welcome the former Foreign Secretaries who are here with us, and the Emeritus and Eminent Ambassadors, thank you for being here, and of course the diplomatic corps accredited in Mexico. Thank you Ambassadors, for being here at this close and fruitful dialogue with the Foreign Ministry.
Before discussing the foreign policy topics for 2018, I would like to comment about the work done by our diplomatic offices abroad after last September's earthquakes. It was a deeply painful moment for Mexico, but we saw that Mexico is not alone in the world, Mexico has friends, it has friends who support us, who supported us at a difficult time. And to make this possible, the generous work and conviction of our embassies and especially of our consulates was needed. Many thanks to all who, in September and beyond, worked on this effort, also from within the various areas of the Foreign Ministry, especially AMEXCID, who devoted themselves in an exemplary manner to ensuring that the international aid was channeled to where it had to be with transparency and in a timely manner.
The world is clearly facing a process of change, of challenges and uncertainties, a technological change, the still-present effects of the great recession of 2008 and 2009, and in general the benefits of globalization, which have already translated into vertiginous political changes that affect the way in which Mexico relates to the world, are being questioned.
Given these challenges, Mexican foreign policy must engage in reflection and ask the question of how we should relate to the world, what are our goals and strategies are to safeguard and promote the national interest.
In this climate, in this complex and challenging environment, we reaffirm that the most important thing is to be faithful to our principles and our diplomatic traditions. In particular, those that are clearly stated in the 10th section of Article 89 of the Constitution, which are the guiding principles that give Mexico clear guidelines on how to act in relation to the rest of the world.
Without a doubt, one of Mexico's great foreign policy strengths throughout its history is its great tradition as a multilateralist, and its participation in the United Nations and in the various multilateral forums, always working effectively and very prominently to promote humanity's best causes.
And this is, perhaps, one of the most important strengths to highlight and use in a context in which, by questioning the advantages of globalization, multilateralism is also being questioned as a way of coexistence among nations.
For the first time in a long time, we have heard speeches in the UN General Assembly questioning multilateralism. Mexico's answer to this is always the same: we choose and reaffirm our belief in multilateralism in the understanding that the division between sovereignty and multilateralism is a false dilemma.
Sovereignty, in Mexico's opinion, is exercised precisely by taking part in multilateral forums, be it the United Nations, the Organization of American States or any other forum in which Mexico participates. Therefore, we will continue to participate in the multilateral forums, in the belief that no nation is big or powerful enough to face the global challenges on its own, and also in the belief that coexistence between nations isn't simply the context for a transactional coexistence, but is also a way to promote common values, legal systems that guide all of us, and public policies that transcend borders, and the way that we will be able to face the enormous challenges of technological change, climate change, migration and, of course, the challenge of nuclear weapons.
I would like to emphasize this last point as one of the most important issues for Mexico in its multilateral participation. 2017 will go down in history as a year in which a new treaty banning nuclear weapons finally met with success in the United Nations. Despite the opposition of many powerful nations, beginning in 2014, Mexico and fifteen other countries promoted the creation of this treaty that was finally approved in 2017. I had the privilege of signing it on September 20 of last year. it was ratified by the Senate before the end of its session, which we greatly appreciate, and it will be deposited this week in the United Nations.
In this way, Mexico confirmed something that we have all known for more than 50 years, when the Treaty of Tlatelolco was negotiated and established: that Mexico will continue to be a key actor, an actor that works tirelessly and without pause to ban and eliminate nuclear weapons.
Therefore, we are using all diplomatic resources available to us to meet the challenge of North Korea's nuclear activity. Since 2016, we have been ramping up our diplomatic efforts to make it clear that Mexico does not agree with the activities of a country that threatens its neighbors and threatens the order of world peace in nuclear matters.
One multilateral issue in which Mexico will participate enthusiastically as it has been doing is in the new Global Compact for Migration.
We have had the honor, together with Switzerland, of being one of the co-facilitators during preparation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. We hosted the Preparatory Meeting in Puerto Vallarta late last year. At the end of the day, it is about having a legal framework, albeit non-binding, that establishes the best practices and the best principles for migration and that recognizes and protects the dignity, safety and human rights of migrants.
Mexico, as a country that is at the same time a place of origin, destination, transit and return of migrants, recognizes migration as one of humanity's essential issues and knows it is an issue that once again cannot be resolved in an exclusively bilateral or individual way. We need a global conversation on the issue of migration and we need to have public policies and principles to correctly address migration. That is why we will take part in this process that we hope will be concluded successfully before the end of this year and, above all, that is a recognition of the value of migrants to the country in which they live, regardless of their legal situation.
In our meetings last week, we told all of the ambassadors that promoting the global compact will be one of our priorities for 2018 and we will do it with pleasure and great conviction.
We will continue working multilaterally to help solve some of the most difficult conflicts that are facing the world today. One of them is the Israeli-Palestinian question, where Mexico will continue to promote a two-state solution in the United Nations and any other forum where the issue is discussed. This solution derives from a comprehensive direct dialogue between the parties and, therefore, our positions must reflect the desire to create conditions for this to happen and for there to always be support at the multilateral level for this complex negotiation process. Therefore, we have indicated that Mexico will keep its embassy in Tel Aviv. We do not agree that altering the legal status of the city of Jerusalem is, at this time, the best way to contribute to resolving the conflict. We have also abstained from supporting resolutions that stigmatize key countries that should be part of the solution. It's about promoting the best conditions for reaching a solution to the conflict.
In the same way, Mexico will continue working and making our best diplomatic efforts to promote a solution in the case of the Venezuelan crisis. We have been doing this since the beginning of this period of great deterioration in Venezuela’s political conditions, pointing out as a signatory country of the Inter-American Democratic Charter that representative democracy must be the only form of government that prevails in Latin America. We will continue to do this only through diplomatic channels at all times.
We reject anything related to the use of force, domestic of external, to resolve the Venezuelan conflict. We will continue working through the Organization of American States or through the Lima Group, created ex profeso by a group of the continent's nations to address the Venezuelan crisis, and we will continue to participate as long as conditions permit in the negotiation process that is taking place between the Venezuelan government and the opposition under the auspices of the Dominican Republic. We are doing this in good faith; we are doing it because we believe it is only through direct political negotiations between Venezuelans that follow the basic principles of our foreign policy of non-intervention and the free self-determination of peoples that a solution must be found, a solution to a problem that today has led not only to a deterioration of the democratic institutions but also to a deep economic and social crisis.
Venezuela can count on Mexico's good faith participation and best diplomatic efforts. In the end, the political responsibility to find a solution belongs solely to the Venezuelans.
And we will continue to work multilaterally to promote what we think are the most important multilateral causes and issues. We will promote the adoption and implementation of the 2030 Agenda; we will continue working with the various federal and state agencies so that the United Nations sustainable development goals become an authentic guide for Mexico's public policy. In this regard, we appreciate that Congress approved President Enrique Peña Nieto's recent reform initiatives to the Planning Law that require the next national development plans, and therefore the budgets from now to 2030, to be governed by the 2030 goals. We also appreciate the Senate's enthusiastic support in this area.
On the subject of climate change, Mexico reaffirms-- regardless of what other countries decide--that we will continue to not only support but to comply with the Paris Agreement. And we will continue to add initiatives, such as the one recently announced by the President in Paris on December 12, to create a market for carbon pricing between the Latin American nations and subnational governments in the United States. Of course, we will continue in the multilateral arena to make human rights a priority for Mexico, in the understanding that international scrutiny and openness to multilateral organizations are powerful instruments for change in Mexico, a change that Mexico needs, and we welcome them with open arms.
On bilateral matters, 2017 will inevitably be remembered as a year of profound changes and new challenges in our relationship with North America, particularly with the United States. It began last year with an unprecedented challenge, not only for Mexico but also for the rest of the world, in understanding the U.S. government's new approach to its relationship with other nations. In response to this challenge, we responded in the only way we could, by holding to our own principles and beliefs and reaffirming that Mexico is and always will be a sovereign nation, a nation that makes its own decisions and will work on all fronts to exclusively address Mexico's own interests.
We communicated our principles, goals and limits in this way to the U.S. government and we established a constructive, good faith relationship. Over the last 12 months, we have clearly made progress, significantly in establishing a good working relationship, a relationship at the highest level, which has involved direct contact at dozens of cabinet-level meetings and which has translated into professional and technical work in the different areas of this complex and rich relationship with a neighbor who is both a friend and historic partner in many of our causes.
The trade negotiations have been conducted through a technical process. This process is underway and is being headed by the Economy Ministry. Tomorrow, Secretary Guajardo will be here with us to give us an update on how the process is going, but we can be calm because on the Mexican side the process is in good hands, with a very experienced technical team capable of defending Mexico's interests and it is a process that is being handled in a professional manner.
In addition, the various aspects of the bilateral relationship are handled by working groups and formal mechanisms, including the security relationship and the cooperation that Mexico, that we both, want in order to fight common issues such as international organized crime.
In terms of migration, in terms of the infrastructure at border crossings, in terms of educational and cultural exchanges, it is a very broad agenda, a comprehensive agenda. On all fronts, Mexico offers the United States a serious attitude, good faith and the desire to build together, as the sovereign nation that we are, a nation that has limits, but that also has the enormous desire and vision to make North America the most competitive region in the world, the region that it clearly can be.
2017 was an especially positive year for our relationship with Canada. We received a visit from the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, and today we have a relationship that is perhaps the closest we have had in decades with the Canadian people and government, and we are going to keep it that way. We are going to continue to work together closely, not only in renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), but also in promoting many cooperation initiatives and exchanges with Canada.
Undoubtedly, one of the most important priorities in the North American relationship is not only the relationship between governments, but also the protection of Mexicans abroad, particularly those in the United States. There are almost twelve million Mexicans there and a good part of them do not necessarily have a regular immigration status.
As a sovereign nation, the United States has the absolute right to set its own immigration policy, just as we have to set our own. However, it must also be said that the Mexican government has the legal and moral obligation to defend Mexicans wherever they are in the world.
Therefore, I would like to thank Congress for increasing the Foreign Ministry's budget with President Enrique Peña Nieto's support. This has enabled the 50 consulates we have abroad to provide timely legal advice and defense to Mexicans who have need of it.
We have set up legal defense centers that will be in operation throughout all of 2018. We have already given advice to more than 580,000 people and have given specific legal advice and representation to over 29,000 of our fellow citizens.
We have opened modules for financial empowerment and family asset protection that are now in operation, as well as the Center for Information and Assistance for Mexicans that is now available seven days a week, 24 hours a day.
This has been heartfelt work that has shown Mexican diplomacy at its best in defense of our people and I want to thank and recognize the work of all the consulates, of the 50 consuls in the United States and their teams who have been working overtime, seven days a week, who have gone far beyond what is strictly required of them, thanks for what they have done and what they will continue to do in 2018.
I want to say that we do not do this work alone. We do this work hand in hand with many North American civil society organizations and delegates' offices that have generously teamed up with us. We have 370 collaboration agreements in different regions of the United States to help us do this work that can be seen in each success story.
Every Mexican who leaves a consultation knowing what to do or who finds a way to resolve their situation or who decides to return to Mexico are worthwhile success stories.
We are living an extraordinarily important moment. We are about to reach an agreement to modernize the global agreement we have with Europe, which has three pillars: a pillar of political dialogue, a pillar of cooperation and a trade pillar.
In 2017, the Foreign Ministry fulfilled its responsibility with regard to the chapters or pillars on cooperation and political dialogue and the Economy Ministry is now very close to achieving success in the trade negotiations.
The Foreign Ministry will continue supporting this work, in a climate in which expanding Mexico's commercial access to Europe is important for creating jobs in Mexico and for attracting investment, but it also sends the right message when the winds of protectionism threaten global trade.
We will keep strengthening our ties with our partners and friends in Europe and we will continue working, not only with the countries that make up the European Union, also with the rest of the nations in the region, including Russia, where I had the opportunity to be a couple of months ago. It is a country where we have an opportunity to continue growing our economic and political relationship.
With Latin America we will continue working closely on a daily basis. We are Latin Americans, our heart is Latin American and it is also Caribbean. The Pacific Alliance, with Chile, Peru and Colombia, will continue to be our main platform for integration. It is now also looking to other regions and expanding the role of associated state. We have also begun to take formal steps to reach a free trade agreement as a bloc with Australia, Singapore, New Zealand and also with Canada.
But we must not limit ourselves to the Pacific Alliance. We are engaged in an intense dialogue with Brazil, and perhaps we are closer than at any other time in decades to being able to expand our agreement of economic complementarity and therefore expand access for Mexican products to Brazil's great market. The same is true in Argentina, where we are working bilaterally as well as multilaterally to create closer ties in practice and not merely in rhetoric, between MERCOSUR and the Pacific Alliance.
We hope to soon start trade negotiations with Paraguay, where the President will be in a couple of weeks, and we will continue working with Uruguay, which is a country with which we have had a free trade agreement since 2004.
We will continue working with all the countries of the Southern Cone, and we will continue working closely with the countries of Central America. Specifically, we have a daily working relationship with the three countries that make up the northern triangle, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, where the issue of migration that we face together every day stems from a reality for which we must assume responsibility. We will work not only based on a logic of controlling an orderly migration but a logic of development; we will continue investing in the northern triangle and we will continue striving so that other factors, including the United States, assume a perspective of responsibility in the development of these three nations.
I said a moment ago that we are Latin Americans and we are Caribbean and Mexico must assume more effective responsibility with respect to the Caribbean countries; especially given the challenge of climate change. At the recent summit between CARICOM and our country, Mexico agreed and President Enrique Peña Nieto committed to increasing our cooperation to specifically improve the region's resilience. We are going to be working with our partners including France, with whom in December we signed an agreement for triangular cooperation with the Caribbean.
The Caribbean countries have very, very little responsibility for climate change. Carbon emissions are practically non-existent in the region, however the consequences of climate change are disproportionately felt in the Caribbean islands. We have to act and we have to act now and Mexico accepts this responsibility in solidarity and as a priority.
With Asia-Pacific, we will continue working on various initiatives that bring us even closer together. We continue to work with the Economy Ministry on a new TPP, the TPP2, and we will continue working bilaterally with our key partners such as China, with whom in this administration we have elevated the relationship or the nature of the comprehensive strategic partnership, and of course with Japan and Korea, which are countries that invest in Mexico and that have shown us their confidence in our country over the years.
We will work with Asia-Pacific, we will work on the mechanism, we will continue to believe that Asia-Pacific is a great opportunity that our country has not yet taken full advantage of.
If I may, I would like to move on to some internal aspects of the Foreign Ministry.
At the beginning of last year, when President Enrique Peña Nieto gave me the enormous honor of heading this great institution, we assessed the structural conditions of the institution and found a deterioration, it must be said, of the working conditions of Mexico's diplomats, especially those who make up the Mexican Foreign Service.
We did a three-stage analysis, recognizing that the career of a woman who decides to dedicate herself to represent Mexico abroad, a man who wants to be a diplomat, has basically three stages: an entry stage, a development stage and a retirement stage.
We found that, of those three stages, the one that works best today, and I say this with great pride and gratitude, is the entry stage. We have an extraordinary institution, the Matías Romero Institute, that every year attracts very talented and passionate young women and men to the Foreign Service, and it makes us optimistic about the future of Mexican diplomacy.
But we found significant problems in the diplomats’ career development, mainly due to budgetary reasons and also to bureaucratic obstacles.
We found an often unmotivated Foreign Service that waits for many years for the promotions to which they legitimately aspire, mainly due to a lack of open positions. We must recognize that there was a real delay in promoting many members of the Foreign Service who have deserved to be promoted for many years.
So we made it a priority in 2017 to speedily fix this situation and thanks to the President's support and thanks to the good ideas of those who know the Foreign Ministry better than I do, and thanks to the support, it must be said, of the Finance Ministry, we were able to promote a record number of individuals, which created room for the first time in many years for furthering careers in this ministry.
We also modified the regulations, facilitating the career development process, updating the regulations of the Foreign Service Law to ensure greater certainty and incentives in the development of the diplomats' careers.
We cannot afford, as a nation, to lose human capital, to lose the talent of women and men who have decided to become diplomats, because they stopped finding in the Foreign Ministry a place where they could further their careers and find opportunities. This is an obligation and ethical responsibility that we have.
We will continue working in 2018 so that there are sufficient promotion exams that, in accordance to the rules, first, encourage the most talented to stay and, second, ensure that the most talented receive the appropriate promotions.
However, the biggest pending issue Mexico has with its diplomats, with the Foreign Service, isn't the entry stage or the career development stage. It is the retirement stage. This is a task that we have not addressed and we propose to make it a priority in 2018.
We can argue many things, we can explain it in many ways, but it is a fact and a truth which must be faced that the Mexican government has not duly recognized the exceptional conditions in which those who decide to dedicate their entire lives to representing and defending Mexico abroad retire.
Today we do not have a retirement system that corresponds to the life decision made by those who decide from a very young age to be members of the Mexican Foreign Service.
We have taken some steps in this administration to mitigate this inadequate and deeply unfair situation. The Fernando Solana Chair, for example, and more recently last year's mentor program, are good initiatives but they don't address the root of the problem.
So, at the President's instructions, we are working on an initiative that we will present to the Congress during its next session to reform the law and offer the members of the Foreign Service the dignified retirement they deserve.
2018 is a political year for Mexico, unprecedented for the number of positions that will be up for election by Mexican citizens through a democratic process.
Given this natural part of Mexican democracy, I want to be absolutely clear about the position that ambassadors, consuls and all who are members of the Foreign Ministry should take. Although as Mexican citizens we have a right to political preferences and participation, as members of Mexican diplomacy, our legal and moral obligation is to absolute neutrality.
For that reason, I am directly instructing each and every one of those who work in the Ministry, the ambassadors, the consuls and all those who work here to maintain the strictest neutrality and impartiality with respect to the 2018 elections.
It will undoubtedly be an intense process in which every Mexican may have a different opinion, but for us in our work as Mexico's representatives abroad, what corresponds to us is to be strictly impartial and neutral.
We must also let the world know about the characteristics of the Mexican electoral process, its institutions and its laws, and therefore we have invited the president of the National Electoral Institute and the President of the Federal Electoral Court to be here today, this afternoon, if I remember correctly, to explain the strengths and functions of our institutions.
Undoubtedly, Mexico will be much talked about in 2018. There will be talk about the redefinition of our relationship with the United States, our political process or the events that take place in a nation as important and great for the world as is Mexico.
What I want to ask of my teammates, my colleagues, in this ministry, and particularly of the ambassadors and consuls, is that we always speak well of Mexico.
Let's speak well of Mexico not to hide its problems, not to distort reality, but to always remind the world who we are as Mexicans, what we represent, what our values are, discussing the good things that take place in Mexico and, above all, reminding the world that we are a democratic nation with principles and values that wants to contribute every day to building a better world.
Thank you and happy new year.
