La paradiplomacia mexicana: las relaciones exeriores de las entidades federativas

Abstract

This article's objective is to present some reflections concerning the "paradiplomacy" of the states within the Mexican Federation. The main point is that, during the last years, Mexican Republic's states have increased their international presence due to the following reasons: 1) the increasing economical interdependence and globalization; 2) a larger competition for national and international markets which has pushed local governments into maintaining a greater presence abroad; 3) a gradual democratic liberalization of the Mexican political system -in the late 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s-, which has motivated a true separation of the public authorities and a greater respects towards the federation's components; 4) a greater decentralization of the federal government's public policies, especially in the areas of economical and tourist promotion abroad; and 5) the increase of the Mexican emigration, especially to the United States. This article is divided in three sections. The first section defines the concept of "paradiplomacy" and presents some international examples. The second section describes the legal framework that controls the federal entities' perfromance in international affairs. The last section analyses the federative entities' main "paradiplomatic" actions in the last years, trying to find the elements that have contributed to a major international performance.