Mexico–Russia relations

Mexico-Russia relations

Mexico
Russia

Mexico–Russia relations refers to the diplomatic relations between the United Mexican States and the Russian Federation. Both nations are members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, G-20 major economies and the United Nations.

History

Russian President Vladimir Putin with Mexican President Vicente Fox at the APEC summit in Chile; November 2004.

In 1806, Russia, under Emperor Alexander I, began an ambitious plan to colonize Alaska and California (then under control of the Spanish Empire). In 1806, Russian explorer Nikolai Rezanov arrived to California in order to partake in the fur trade and secure food production for Russian colonies. In 1812, Fort Ross was established in present-day northern California.[1]

Diplomatic relations between Mexico and Russia were formally established on 1 December 1890 in Mexico City by Baron Roman Rosen under the authorization of Emperor Alexander III of Russia. In 1891, the first Russian legation was opened in the Mexican capital.[1] During respective revolutions; 1910-1920 in Mexico and 1917 in Russia; diplomatic relations between the two countries were practically non-existent.

Soviet era

In 1922, Russia became known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), In August 1924, Mexico became the first country in the American continent to establish relations with the USSR.[2] In 1926, the USSR appointed Alexandra Kollontai (the first female ambassador in the world) as ambassador to Mexico.[2]

On 26 January 1930, diplomatic relations between the two nations were severed due to 'ideological differences'. In 1936 former Soviet politician Leon Trotsky and his wife Natalia Sedova, moved to Mexico from Norway during their exile. Mexican President Lázaro Cárdenas welcomed him warmly, even arranging for a special train to bring him to Mexico City from the port of Tampico. In Mexico, Trotsky at one point lived at the home of painters Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. In August 1940, Trotsky was assassinated at his home by NKVD agent Ramón Mercader.[3]

In May 1942, Mexico entered World War II by declaring war on the Axis Powers, and thus became an ally of the USSR. Diplomatic relations between the two nations were re-established in November 1942. In 1973, President Luis Echeverría became the first Mexican and the first non-Communist Latin American head of state to visit the Soviet Union. In 1978, during an official visit by Mexican President José López Portillo to the Soviet Union, Mexico (on behalf of Latin America) and the Soviet Union signed the Treaty of Tlatelolco which prohibits "testing, use, manufacture, production or acquisition by any means whatsoever of any nuclear weapons" in Latin-America and the Caribbean.[1]

Russian Federation

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991, Mexico continued to maintain diplomatic relations with the newly created Russian Federation as the successor of the USSR.[1] Since then, bilateral relations between the two nations have steadily increased.[4] Mexico has purchased various military equipment from Russia. The Mexican Navy has received BTR-60s Ural-4320, Mi-17/8s and 9K38 Igla anti-aircraft missiles.[4] In 2001 and 2013, Russia launched into space Mexican communication satellites from the town of Baikonur, Kazakhstan (the town is administered by Russia for space launch programs).[4] In 2009, a joint Mexican-Russian Tatiana-2 was launched into Space. Another joint satelite (Mijailo Lomonósov) between both nations will be launched in the near future.[5] In 2015, both nations celebrated 125 years of diplomatic relations.[6]

State visits

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Russian President Vladimir Putin meeting at the G-20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany; July 2017.

Presidential visits from Mexico to the USSR / Russia[2][7]

Presidential visits from Russia to Mexico

Bilateral agreements

Both nations have signed several bilateral agreements such as an Agreement in Cultural, Scientific and Economic Cooperation (1968); Agreement in Sports Cooperation (1968); Agreement in Foreign Policy Cooperation (1968); Agreement of Prohibition of Storing Nuclear Weapons in Mexico (and in Latin America) (1973); Agreement of Scientific and Technical Cooperation (1996); Agreement on Cooperation in the peaceful uses of Nuclear Energy (2013) and a Memorandum of Understanding between both nations Foreign Diplomatic Institutions (2017).[1][8]

Tourism and Transportation

In the first half of 2018, over 31,000 Russian citizens visited Mexico for tourism.[9] In 2018, over 13,000 Mexican citizens visited Russia to attend the FIFA World Cup.[10] There are direct flights between Cancun and Moscow with Nordwind Airlines.

Trade

In 2017, two-way trade between both nations totaled $1.7 billion USD.[11] Mexico's main exports to Russia include: tequila, beer, beef and automobiles. Russian exports to Mexico include: chemical based products, metals, helicopters and ammunition.[11] Mexico is Russia's third biggest trading partner in Latin America.[4] Russian multinational companies such as Power Machines operate in Mexico and Mexican multinational companies such as Grupo Omnilife, Grupo Maseca, Nemak, Cemex, Mabe, Katcon, Metalsa and Gruma[12] operate in Russia.[4]

Embassy of Mexico in Moscow

Resident diplomatic missions

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Historia de las relaciones bilaterales: Rusia-México (in Spanish)
  2. 1 2 3 "Inicio". Embamex.sre.gob.mx. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  3. ↑ Jo Tuckman. "Trotsky's murder remembered by grandson, 72 years on | World news". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 México y Rusia cooperan en la creación del microsatélite Cóndor UNAM-MAI (in Spanish)
  5. ↑ Joint Cooperation in Science and Technology between Russia and Mexico (in Spanish)
  6. ↑ México y Rusia Celebran 125 Años de Relaciones Diplomáticas (in Spanish)
  7. ↑ "Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores | Gobierno | gob.mx" (PDF). Sre.gob.mx. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  8. ↑ México y Rusia profundizan su relación bilateral (in Spanish)
  9. ↑ Se duplica entrada de rusos a México (in Spansih)
  10. ↑ México es el Segundo País que más Viajara a Rusia (in Spanish)
  11. 1 2 Mexican Ministry of the Economy: Russia (in Spanish)
  12. ↑ Rubén Beltrán. "2014 to see the revival of relations between Mexico and Russia". VIGIL Journal. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  13. ↑ Embassy of Mexico in Moscow
  14. ↑ Embassy of Russia in Mexico City
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