welcome, mr. mikoyan!: tacos and tractors in the shadow of soviet-mexican rapprochement, 1958-1964

Based on previously unseen documentation from the archives of the former Soviet Union, the United States and to a lesser extent Mexico, this article aims to analyze the process of rapprochement between Mexico and the USSR between 1959 and 1962. In particular, this text shows how, during the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s, a series of factors created the first opportunity for a possible rapprochement between the two countries since the beginning of the Cold War in 1947. At the same time, this article shows how Mexico’s strong economic dependence on the United States, the context of Cold War polarization and Soviet difficulties in projecting their economic influence in the region finally dissuaded the López Mateos administration from consolidating its rapprochement with the USSR.