Mexico Matters

In this episode, Mariana speaks with Carlos Peyrelongue, head of Mexico Equity Research for Bank of America, about the state of the country that President Claudia Sheinbaum has inherited from her predecessor, about the parting gift he left—a judicial reform that weakens certainty and the rule of law, and about how the markets will read certain markers to determine whether or not she will rule based on data or ideology. They also discuss the measures she will need to take in order to create the necessary conditions to attract investments to grow, to fund the country’s infrastructure needs, as well as the government’s growing spending commitments. And, about the most likely scenarios for U.S.-Mexico relations in light of the upcoming USMCA renegotiation. 

In this episode, Mariana speaks with Alejandra Palacios, former head of Mexico’s antitrust agency, COFECE, and Andrea Durkin, VP for international policy at the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), about the controversial constitutional judicial reform passed by Mexico's Congress, which makes Mexico the only country in the world where the entire judicial branch, including the Supreme Court, stands for election.

They also discuss the government’s proposal to incorporate various regulatory agencies into the federal government, a move that could undermine their independence and increase presidential power, enabling the removal of competition and the selection of winners and losers. They emphasize the importance of how the new President, Claudia Sheinbaum, will write and implement the secondary laws and regulations, as these could—if done correctly—add the necessary certainty for investors and even allow Mexico to meet its international trade commitments.

On this episode, Mariana speaks with General David Petraeus, former CIA Director, Retired Army General, Partner of KKR and Chairman of the KKR Global Institute, about the major and minor challenges occurring around the world that require the attention of the United States while, at the same time, the US needs to focus on strengthening its own competitive profile to compete against China. They also discuss how some of these global trends (nearshoring and frienshoring) have the potential to benefit Mexico if—and only if—Mexico works to create the necessary conditions to attract investment. This will include curbing the power of the criminal empires who control one-third of the territory and are damaging the attractiveness of Mexico and impacting the security of North America.

In this episode, Mariana speaks with Kenneth Smith Ramos, former Chief Negotiator of USMCA from the Mexican side and partner of AGON, about how the Constitutional Reforms proposed by President Lopez Obrador might weaken Mexico’s judiciary and in doing so, impact the key principles of USMCA and other trade agreements such as impartiality, transparency, and nondiscriminatory practices. They also discuss measures North America could take to defend itself against predatory practices and the facts behind recent Chinese investments in Mexico. And, they speak about the upcoming 2026 mandatory review of USMCA and the negative implications of opening a full renegotiation.

In this crossover with It's More Than Grit: The Making of an Entrepreneur, a new podcast from CSIS, Linda Rottenberg, Co-founder and CEO of Endeavor, joins Mariana Campero and co-host Andrew Schwartz for a discussion on Linda’s journey to Endeavor. She highlights the qualities of a good entrepreneur and the regions she is most optimistic about. As a leader of the global entrepreneurship movement, Linda also shares advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Linda Rottenberg is one of the world’s premier voices on global entrepreneurship, technology, and business transformation. As Co-founder and CEO of Endeavor, Linda helms the leading global community of, by, and for entrepreneurs. Endeavor selects, supports, and invests in founders across 40 countries. Linda also serves as President of Endeavor Catalyst, the rules-based investment arm of Endeavor, with $500M in AUM.

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In this episode, Mariana speaks with Carlos Elizondo Mayer-Serra, a political science expert from Monterrey Tec, about Claudia Sheinbaum’s landslide victory in the Mexican elections and explains why the financial markets negatively reacted to such a victory. They also discuss the Constitutional changes that President Lopez Obrador and his Morena party might try to pass now that they have the necessary votes, and the potential impact of those reforms on Claudia’s presidency. They stress the various dilemmas Claudia will face while squaring the circle of achieving greater economic growth vs. greater power concentration.

In this episode, Mariana speaks with Juan Carlos Baker, former USMCA negotiator on the Mexican side and CEO of Ansley International Consultants, about the facts behind the recent Chinese investment announcements in Mexico, about what prompted Mexico to increase tariffs on more than 500 Chinese goods, and what Mexico, the U.S. and Canada should be doing now to prepare for the upcoming 2026 review of USMCA.

In this episode, Mariana is joined by Luis de la Calle, an international economist, former NAFTA negotiator and CEO of CMM; and Martin Castellanos, head of Latam research at the IIF. They discuss the potential economic and policy implications of the June 2nd presidential elections and describe the optimism vis-a-vis Mexico among the investor community.

They dive into the economic realities that exist today to determine whether that optimism is justified or not. They also discuss future risks and analyze the various policy consequences of the upcoming elections. They describe two potential scenarios: a victory by Claudia Sheinbaum with and without the necessary majority in Congress to change the Constitution. They also discuss the tailwinds that the nearshoring wave could bring for Mexico, and the country's shortcomings that limit it from taking full advantage of the opportunity. And finally, the implications for Mexico if it allowed China to use it as a back door to the United States.

In this episode, Mariana speaks with Tamanna and Travis Bembenek, owners of the Mexico News Daily about the other side of the migration coin: the millions of Americans (and other nationalities) migrating to Mexico to live, work, or start a business and the impact they are having in the local communities.

They discuss the challenges and opportunities of starting a new business in Mexico, the importance for the Mexican government to expedite work visas to allow for the technology ecosystem to grow, and the challenges/opportunities they see as business owners. They also talk about how journalism is a dangerous business in Mexico and how they avoid falling into dangerous territory.

In this episode, Mariana speaks with Andrew Selee, President of the Migration Policy Institute and Carlos Heredia Associate Professor at CIDE about the facts and the politics in both the U.S. and Mexico behind the surge in immigration flows. They dive deep into the facts to understand what is attracting so many people—not only from Mexico or Central America but also from China, India, Africa, and the Middle East—to risk their lives (and a lot of money) to cross the border illegally. They also speak about the impact that immigration is having on the Mexican side of the border, they discuss what the current bipartisan Senate immigration bill would achieve, if it ever became law, and how to improve the current asylum system which is being abused. They analyze what the United States could do to improve border security, how governments are using migrants for political gain, and how President Lopez Obrador from Mexico is gaming the system.