Gilberto Crespo y Martínez, An Agent of Mexican Diplomacy in the Republic of Cuba (1902-1906)

An understanding of Mexico’s current foreign policy agenda necessarily requires an appreciation of the complex paths it has followed in the past. As such, an analysis of the foreign policy followed by various Mexican administrations over the years is an invaluable tool to determining the path we should be taking both in the present and the future. It is based on this premise that Enrique Camacho Navarro has undertaken a study of Gilberto Crespo y Martínez, Mexico’s first Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Cuba. Although a secondary figure within the framework of President Porfirio Díaz’s international policy, the author believes some of these less celebrated agents of Mexican diplomacy are also deserving of recognition. In this case, Camacho Navarro takes a more in-depth look at the personal and professional achievements of Crespo y Martínez and explains the diplomatic approaches he put in practice in Cuba during the years when the monumental figure of Porfirio Díaz brought his influence to bear on Mexico’s political life.