MiCISAN

Velázquez Flores, Rafael

Velasco Montante, Astrid

MiCISAN (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico)

95
special section
Local Governments’ 
International Relations
In North America since nafta
Rafael Velázquez Flores*
IntroductIon
This article will analyze the impact of the North American 
Free Trade Agreement (nafta) on the international activity 
of the region’s local governments, focusing particularly on the 
Mexican case. I will attempt to identify the patterns Mexican 
state and municipal governments have displayed in their links 
abroad, beginning with the signing of the treaty.
To do this, I have divided the article in two parts: first, I 
briefly describe local governments’ links before nafta was 
signed. Secondly, I lay out these actors’ dynamics on the in-
ternational stage since the treaty came into effect. Lastly, I 
put forward some perspectives about their behavior in the 
medium and short terms, particularly since Donald Trump’s 
taking office.
local governments before nafta
Traditionally and before the treaty’s signing, local Mexican 
governments carried out little international activity. Since 
the country’s foreign policy was practically exclusively the 
prerogative of the federal executive branch, governors and 
mayors did not compete with the president on international 
issues. Only border states, municipalities, and a few tourist 
destinations implemented on-going, but discrete, internatio n-
al activity.
The Mexican political system itself impeded greater inde-
pendence on the part of local governments in international 
matters, given that power was concentrated almost exclu-
* Professor and researcher at the Autonomous University of Baja 
California and president of the Mexican Association of Interna-
tional Studies (ameI); rafael.velazquez@uabc.edu.mx.
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96
Voices of Mexico •  103
sively in the hands of one person, the president. In addition, 
a single party controlled the executive branch, Congress, and 
all the governors’ seats, as well as the immense majority of 
the municipalities. Governors and mayors disciplined them-
selves to the political boss, given that they aspired to posts 
within the system in the future. However, beginning with 
certain political moments toward the end of the twentieth 
century, local governments began to be more internationally 
active. In the first place, domestic changes in the country 
offered greater maneuvering room to these actors on global 
issues. The Mexican political system began to undergo sig-
nificant transformations at the end of the 1980s.
In 1988, the official candidate, Carlos Salinas de Gortari, 
won the presidential election by a small margin and his le-
gitimacy came under question due to accusations of voter 
fraud. For this reason, the Salinas administration approved 
reforms to Mexico’s electoral system. The political changes 
made it possible for other parties to win elections for state and 
municipal governments. In 1989, for the first time in recent 
history, an opposition party won the governor’s seat in the bor-
der state of Baja California. Quintessentially, local governments 
began to be more interested in playing a bigger internation-
al role independent of the central executive branch.
At the same time, the country began to experience grave 
financial crises at the end of the 1970s and the early 1980s. 
As a result, the Mexican government decided to make sig-
nificant changes in its economic development model. From 
a protectionist, nationalist model, economic policy opened 
up and became neoliberal, emphasizing free trade and at-
tracting foreign investments. With these reforms, local gov-
ernments had more incentives to participate in external affairs 
given that they had a very specific interest in finding foreign 
markets for their local products and attracting investments 
from abroad to create jobs in their communities.
In the second place, certain changes in the international 
system allowed Mexican states and municipal governments 
to create better opportunities for having a presence in global 
affairs. The Cold War ended in the late 1980s and the early 
1990s heralded the arrival of a new global order. Bipolar 
politics and other matters were a thing of the past, and new 
actors began to be more visible on the international agenda. 
Issues like economic development, technology, the environ-
ment, human rights, and migration, among others, began to 
be more important in international relations. At the same time, 
non-centralized actors began to have an impact on interna-
tional politics, particularly local governments, since they had 
a big stake in the new items on the agenda.
At the end of the twentieth century and the beginning 
of the twenty-first, the world experienced growing interde-
pendence and an even stronger globalizing trend. These two 
factors made it possible for non-centralized actors to have 
greater presence in the global context. The external had more 
influence on the local, and local governments sought great-
er presence in the external. In other words, globalization and 
interdependence were incentives for states and municipali-
ties to compete internationally for greater investments and 
markets for their local products.
In this domestic and external context, the Mexican gov-
ernment decided to begin negotiations with the United States 
and Canada with the aim of signing a free trade agreement 
in the early 1990s. The process was finally successful on Jan-
uary 1, 1994, when nafta came into effect. What was the 
impact this treaty had, then, on Mexican local governments’ 
international activity? I develop the answer to that question 
in the next section.
InternatIonal actIvIty of 
local governments after nafta
When nafta came into effect in 1994, Mexican local gov-
ernments began to take more interest in acting internation-
ally. The internal political and economic changes in Mexico 
at the end of the 1980s and free trade in the North American 
region were big incentives for this. Starting then, both state 
and municipal governments began to open offices of inter-
national affairs. The first ones opened in the country’s capital, 
Mexico City’s Federal District, because of its political and 
economic importance. Other states, like Nuevo León, Baja 
California, the State of Mexico, Jalisco, and Chiapas, did the 
same.1 Under the system centralized by the Institutional Rev-
olutionary Party (prI), states had had no interest in opening 
up this kind of office because in practice, the federal execu-
tive had the complete monopoly over foreign policy.
Along these same lines, some state governments also open ed 
up diplomatic missions abroad, especially to promote invest-
Some state governments open ed up diplomatic 
missions abroad to promote investments, foster 
trade, attract tourists, and protect migrants.  
Before nafta, this was uncommon.
97
special section
ments, foster trade, attract tourists, and protect migrants. 
Before nafta, this was uncommon. That is, the free trade 
that began in the mid-1980s and surged ahead in 1994 with 
the treaty’s entry into force fostered this activity among local 
governments. Also, several governors and mayors increased 
their visits abroad. Before nafta, these activities were also 
limited. The aim of these visits was both economic and po-
litical given that these officials sought to strengthen relations 
between their states and their counterparts abroad. Some of 
them resulted in the signing of collaboration agreements.2 
Many of these instruments dealt with issues like education, 
cultural policies, environmental protection, and sports, among 
others. One old practice was the sign ing of agreements to be 
sister cities or states. Before the 1990s, the number of these 
agreements was limited, but as free trade was implemented, 
they increased significantly.3
Before nafta, local Mexican governments and their Ca-
nadian counterparts had very limited contact. When the trea-
ty came into effect, the links increased visibly. For example, 
the province of Alberta and the state of Jalisco signed a very 
successful collaboration accord covering work visas for Jalis-
co residents, the donation of ambulances, training in forestry, 
and other activities. That is, nafta made it possible to increase 
interaction between local Mexican governments and those 
of Canada.4
Despite the fact that nafta promoted links among the 
local governments at the end of the twentieth century, the 
events of 2001 affected the process. The terrorist attacks in 
the United States sparked changes in that country’s security 
policies. That is, local interaction in the region was affected 
by Washington’s more restrictive measures.5 However, the 
contacts continued thanks to the growing economic interde-
pendence of the region’s three countries.
conclusIons
In effect, the signing of the North American Free Trade 
Agreement fostered greater participation of local Mexican 
governments in foreign affairs. However, Mexico’s domestic 
political and economic changes are also explanatory factors. 
In other words, nafta became a driving force behind local 
diplomacy in the region. That was the trend that marked the 
end of the twentieth century. However, the September 11 
attacks brought an adjustment in the process due to the United 
States’ new security measures.
Despite the fact that nafta has fostered these contacts, 
another change is threatening the continuity of the process: 
Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2017 is a turning 
point in the trend. In the first place, the new occupant of the 
White House has expressed his interest in renegotiating nafta 
and building a wall along the entire border to prevent the entry 
of workers without papers. These measures may affect free 
trade and be a disincentive to interaction among local gov-
ernments in North America.
In this context, greater participation is needed by local 
public and private actors in the three countries to ensure that 
federal decisions do not affect the links among local actors 
in the region. Local governments in North America face many 
complex challenges, but the benefits accruing from this kind 
of diplomacy are greater than expected. 
notes
1  In Chiapas, the Office for International Affairs opened due to the Zapa-
tista Army uprising. Since the movement made the state visible internation-
ally, the government decided to take advantage of the moment.
2  Signing international treaties is a function reserved to federal bodies. 
However, with the passing of the 1992 Law on Celebrating Treaties, in the 
middle of the nafta negotiations, local governments were given a legal 
framework that allowed them to sign “inter-institutional accords” as long as 
they did not touch on issues reserved exclusively to the federal government.
3  Detailed research on inter-institutional accords can be found in Jorge A. 
Schiavon, “Mexico’s Sub-State Diplomacy vis-à-vis North America,” in 
Rafael Velázquez, Earl H. Fry, and Stéphane Paquin, eds., The External Rela-
tions of Local Governments in North America after nafta: Trends and Per-
spectives (Mexico City: pIeran, 2014), pp. 73-100.
4  See Stéphane Paquin, “nafta and the Role of Canadian Provinces,” in Ra-
fael Velázquez, Earl H. Fry, and Stéphane Paquin, eds., op. cit., pp. 53-72.
5  See Earl H. Fry, “The Development of Sub-State Cross-Border Interac-
tions in North America, 1994-2012: The Impact of nafta and Post-9/11 
Security Policies,” in Rafael Velázquez, Earl H. Fry, and Stéphane Paquin, 
eds., op. cit., pp. 15-51.
the province of Alberta and the state  
of Jalisco signed a very successful collaboration 
accord covering work visas for Jalisco residents, 
the donation of ambulances, training in forestry,  
and other activities.


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