“Poor Mexico: so far from God and so close to the United States.” The famous quote from Mexican dictator Porfírio Díaz compiles the turbulent history of relations between the two countries. This July 8, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador — also known as AMLO — visited his American counterpart Donald Trump for the first time since he took office late in 2018. The “budding” relationship between the left-wing AMLO and the far-right wing U.S. president seems inexplicable, but it is key to both presidents’ political fortunes as the storm of the Covid-19 pandemic continues to rage in both countries.
The...