The prospect of a Trump presidency looms over Mexico’s elections

Every 12 years the electoral cycles of Mexico (six-year presidential terms) and the United States (four-year terms) align. The last time, in 2012, few took notice; neither Barack Obama nor his running-mate Joe Biden mentioned Mexico during their televised debates.Things will be different this year. Donald Trump, the likely Republican nominee, is a relentless Mexico-basher. The Mexican frontrunner, of the ruling Morena party, is a protegée of the populist incumbent, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Mexico figures prominently in its northern neighbour’s most divisive debates. are at record levels, placing . The volume of , a deadly synthetic opioid, seized at the United States border is rising fast. On a less contentious matter, the United States is looking to Mexico to host supply chains which used to pass through China.