Last week, The Institute of World Politics welcomed H.E. Esteban Moctezuma Barragán, Mexico’s Ambassador to the United States, for a visit with IWP students, alumni, and interns. IWP President Ambassador Aldona Z. Woś introduced Ambassador Moctezuma, who delivered a speech on “Shaping the Future of the U.S.-Mexico Bilateral Relationship: A Blueprint for an Integrated North American Region.”
Ambassador Moctezuma began his remarks by reflecting on the recent 200th anniversary of U.S.-Mexico bilateral relations, emphasizing that the two countries are not competitors but instead complement each other. He praised the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) as the world’s most advanced trade agreement and highlighted Mexico’s commitment as a valuable ally to the U.S. in the ongoing strategic competition between the U.S. and China.
In addition, Amb. Moctezuma addressed the importance of past and future trade partnerships between the U.S. and Mexico by enhancing infrastructure, ensuring regional security, and sustaining human capital. He continued on to discuss innovation, shared resources stewardship, and the strength of our country’s people-to-people ties.
The Ambassador then answered student and faculty questions and provided insight on significant social, geopolitical, and environmental issues pertinent to the binational relationship. In his final comments to IWP, Ambassador Moctezuma shared his story on the necessity of understanding a country’s cultural code – a sentiment paramount to the cultivation of leaders in national security, intelligence, and international relations.
Ambassador Moctezuma is an accomplished Mexican statesman with a distinguished government and civil society career. He was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Mexico to the United States of America by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and ratified by the Senate of the Republic with 115 votes in favor of 116 attendees in February 2021. Ambassador Moctezuma’s government career spans several vital positions, including Secretary of Education, Secretary of Social Development, Senator of the Republic, Secretary of the Interior, Sub-secretary of Educational Planning and Coordination, and Head of the Secretariat of Public Education.
