No mention of Latin America in the 3rd Presidential Debate

            After watching the debate the other night, I recall Mitt Romney briefly mentioning the importance of the Latin American economy. Yet that was all that was mentioned about Latin America.   We’ve heard so much rhetoric about “being tough on China,” but nothing has been said about the optimistic economic ventures that lie ahead with Latin American countries like Mexico.  It’s odd that one of the most vital aspects of U.S. foreign policy was not even considered a topic of discussion in the debates.  Just to give a ball-park figure of our trade involvement with Latin America, the U.S. exported more to Mexico than to Russia, India, and China combined in the past year.  Other sources claim that roughly six million American jobs depend on trade with Mexico.  HSBC has recently reported that by 2018, Mexico will overtake Canada and China in becoming America’s main source of imports.  Looking more in depth into the topic, I came across an article in The Economist that pairs well with our recent reading about the Mexican Tequila Crisis in Paul Krugman’s The Return of Depression Economics.  The article, “From Tequila Crisis to Sunrise,” describes how the Mexican economy has steadily grown in the past few years and how Mexican banks have become stronger and much more reliable.  This sort of news is a significant departure from their bad reputation in the early 90s when they lost financial credibility by completely botching the devaluation of the peso.  Today, the tables have turned. According to the article, “The countries’ changing fortunes are partly due to slowing growth in China, a big buyer of Brazilian commodities and bitter rival of Mexican manufacturers.”  Pairing that with an increase in Chinese wages, and the rising cost of shipping across the Pacific Ocean, Mexico has become progressively more attractive to foreign investors.  Not only have Mexican banks become profitable due to the promising economic environment, but they have also become increasingly stronger and more responsible.  For example, the Mexican government has taken measures to restrict foreign financial institutions in Mexico, like Spain’s Santander, from transferring capital out of their Mexican subsidiaries to address problems in their home countries, according to a recent Fox News Latino article.  The banks also have extremely strict credit-scoring process for interested borrowers.  These sorts of measures would certainly be reassuring for an economist like Krugman who blames the tequila crisis of the early 90s on Mexican policy errors.  Now that Mexico is attractive again for foreign investment, it seems that this time around they have their heads on straight, and hopefully we won’t see another  tequila crisis as long as they keep their currency stable.

The one thing that is holding them back however is the violence of the drug cartels.  According to Jorge Sicilia from BBVA, without the violence and influence of the drug cartels in the region, the Mexican economy would have grown at a rate 1% higher than the rates of the past few years.  The cartels are a parasite to the growing economy, as they extort Mexican businesses and deter tourism to areas like Acapulco with their public displays of violence.  During the debate, had more time been allotted to the topic of Mexico and the Latin American economy, or had Romney pivoted like he does so well when asked about what loopholes he'll close in his tax plan, I think it would have been an advantage for Romney.  It would have given him the opportunity to elaborate his “Campaign for Economic Opportunity in Latin America,” and it would also have provided fodder for criticizing Obama over the disastrous Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal.  Unfortunately, the only sound byte I heard regarding Latin America was during a brief tangent from Romney: “The opportunities for us in Latin America we have just not taken advantage of fully. As a matter of fact, Latin America's economy is almost as big as the economy of China. We're all focused on China. Latin America is a huge opportunity for us.”   
So what have we learned from these debates?  The military has fewer horses and bayonets, Mitt Romney has binders full of women and he also loves teachers, Big Bird, and the economic opportunities in Latin America.  Seriously though, If Romney wins he will initiate CEOLA within his first 100 days in office.  If that's the case, I’m interested to see how trade relations between the U.S. and Latin America further develop in the years to come.