Lopez Obrador’s Nafta Chief Intends to Keep Mexico in Agreement

The Harvard-educated historian and economist who’ll run Nafta negotiations for Mexico if Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador wins in July said that the deal is a valuable part of the nation’s economy and she wouldn’t seek to start over fresh on work to modernize it.

Graciela Marquez, tapped by the front-runner in the polls to become economy minister if he’s elected, said Nafta has been an engine of job growth and fostered the opening of Mexico’s economy to global forces. Still, the accord hasn’t been a panacea, and Lopez Obrador wants to develop Mexico’s domestic market and reduce inequality without resorting to protectionism, she said.