On March 6, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum held a meeting with nearly 40 representatives of Mexico’s national bourgeoisie to discuss her government’s plans in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats. Sheinbaum would later confess that the meeting was set up to share what her government was planning on doing should her phone call with Trump not result in a deal to suspend U.S. tariffs on Mexican exports. The meeting was the clearest sign that Mexico was unsure if there would be a positive outcome from the phone call with Trump.

Ultimately, the meeting was unnecessary, as Sheinbaum managed to get Trump to suspend the imposition of tariffs for another month. Francisco Cervantes Díaz, president of Mexico’s Business Coordinating Council, came out of the gathering expressing strong support for the Mexican president, saying he would close ranks and make common cause with her in light of the external threat posed by Trump’s tariffs.

On March 9, Sheinbaum called on the Mexican people to show their support. An estimated 350,000 people responded to Sheinbaum’s call for national unity. The public mobilization in Mexico City, which was billed as an opportunity for the president to share her plans in response to the imposition of tariffs, also turned into a demonstration and “festival” in defense of Mexican sovereignty.

The atmosphere at Sunday’s demonstration was certainly festive. Mexicans from throughout the country descended on the capital’s historic center, marching, waving the Mexican flag, cheering, playing music and dancing.

“We are here to support our president and of course the whole country,” Anaí Pérez Arellanes, artistic director of a folkloric Indigenous dance troupe from Pochutla, Oaxaca, told Truthout.

Pérez’s group, accompanied by a live band, entertained onlookers in front of the Palace of Fine Arts as the crowd jostled against each other, squeezing into the little space they could find on the street as the crowds attempted to make their way into Mexico City’s Zócalo square.

Pérez said the presence of this group of young Indigenous performers was more than just symbolic, it was a political statement about Mexico’s roots.

“In order to defend our sovereignty, we must first defend our identity,” said the artistic director.

The need and willingness to defend Mexico’s sovereignty was the overwhelming message delivered by demonstrators. Inside Mexico, Trump’s tariffs threats are seen as a hostile act by an unpredictable president against a population that has long-standing suspicions and grievances toward its northern neighbor.

“This is a message to the world. Our president wants to send the message that Mexico is not anyone’s backyard and that we are workers, but we also know how to defend our homeland. That’s why we are here, for a self-sufficient Mexico,” Miguel Ramírez Domínguez, a retired worker from the militant Mexican Electricians Union, told Truthout.

While Mexico has not been the only country to draw unwanted attention from the U.S. president — Trump has famously talked about seizing Greenland and has likewise threatened to turn Canada into the 51st U.S. state — his threats have largely served to unite people in Mexico, from the ruling class to the working class.

Sheinbaum, who took office in October after winning the presidential election in a landslide, was already enjoying high approval ratings before Trump came into power in January. The U.S. president’s decision to threaten his neighbor then........

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