With the stunning victory of Donald Trump, the tremors of the political earthquake in the United States are being felt and absorbed around the world — but perhaps nowhere more acutely than in Mexico. From the outset of Trump’s seemingly far-fetched campaign for the presidency, Mexico has been the chief proxy for the two central issues at the heart of his message to an anxious electorate: immigration and trade.
The prospect that he might now attempt to put in practice his outlandish proposals on both have understandably heightened apprehension in our southern neighbor. What seemed like a bad dream has become reality. The already shaky peso has fallen by some 13 percent, to more than 20 pesos per dollar — its biggest drop in more than two decades.