State visit to Mexico: Steinmeier talks about energy supplies

During his state visit to Mexico, Federal President Steinmeier spoke about energy supplies. It was about liquid gas, but also the expansion of renewable energies. Human rights were also an issue.

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was received with military honors by the Mexican President. They then disappeared behind closed doors for about two hours. The global impact of the war in Ukraine was also a topic of discussion.

Especially in view of the energy crisis, discussions were held with Andrés Manuel López Obrador about more intensive cooperation between Germany and Mexico.

How can gas be brought to Europe?

Mexico has experience in exporting liquefied gas – natural gas in particular to the USA. The experts need to test what can realistically be brought to Europe – whether the skills and facilities can also be used to transport Mexican gas in the US. Or whether you have to build plants in Mexico in the end, that has to be investigated.

According to Steinmeier, Mexico has plenty of energy resources. He mentions oil and gas, but sun and wind are also widely available. One problem might be that the Mexican government has so far hardly promoted renewable energies.

Steinmeier wants cooperation

Steinmeier was confident: “My impression is that there is no fundamental defense against the expansion of renewable energies. I believe that even in Mexico, if you tighten your own climate protection goals, you will know that renewable energies cannot be left unconsidered.” Germany is a good cooperation partner from Mexico’s point of view.

It remains to be seen whether President López Obrador will actually make a U-turn. He himself was not available for a statement. In any case, there should be further talks. Steinmeier announced that German companies and the political leadership in Mexico will meet in the next few weeks to explore opportunities for cooperation.

human rights and rule of law

He emphasized that the conversation with the Mexican President also dealt with the issue of human rights and the rule of law. In the spring of this year, Mexico officially passed 100,000 people who had disappeared. According to experts, the number of unreported cases is far higher because many people don’t even report it because they don’t trust the authorities.

On average, 94 people die every day in clashes between drug cartels. Human rights organizations criticize that the Mexican government lacks the political will to consistently implement laws and reforms to combat the problem.

But instead of criticizing, Steinmeier wants to provide concrete help. It’s not about blaming the current political leadership, “but rather emphasizing the offer that we want to help here if we can help with clarification and identification,” emphasizes Steinmeier.

On the subject of violence: there is still a lot to be done

The cultural scientist and filmmaker Anne Huffschmid is part of the Steinmeier delegation. She has been dealing with violence in Mexico for years. She sees progress, among other things, a national search commission has been set up, but a lot still has to happen.

It would be the great challenge for this government to get the forensic, the technical, the identification, the question of clarification and also the legal punishment back together, says Huffschmid. This is actually the crisis of the justice system in this long history of impunity that Mexico has. This must finally be broken, says Huffschmid.

Because 90 percent of the cases of disappearances are still not cleared up. The Federal President will learn personal stories when he meets with family members of those who have disappeared.