Just prior to the U.S. presidential election, Agustín Carstens, the respected governor of Mexico’s central bank, had warned that victory for Donald Trump would be akin to a “hurricane” for this country’s economy.
Past presidents, including Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderon, had fulminated against the Republican candidate, attacking his racist rhetoric and insisting there was “no way” this country would ever pay for his border wall.
When reality set in after Tuesday’s result was confirmed, measured heads prevailed, with Fox even offering an olive branch: “Even though Donald Trump is not the prettiest gal in the room, we still have to dance with her and find a way to work together,” he tweeted.
President Enrique Peña Nieto was equally circumspect: ”I congratulate the United States on their election and reiterate to Donald Trump our willingness to work together in favor of bilateral relations.”
Newspapers and their editorials were less sanguine. El Economista ran the bluntest possible headline on its front page: “Nightmare.”
Noted former foreign secretary Jorge Castañeda: “It’s an unmitigated disaster for Mexico.”
Historian Enrique Krause was permitted space in The New York Times (part owned by Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim) and did not mince his words: “With Donald J. Trump’s electoral victory, every Mexican will have ample reason to entrust himself more closely to God (or the Virgin of Guadalupe) and prepare for a new war, certainly not military, but commercial, economic, ethnic, strategic and diplomatic.”