Mexico - International cooperation

Mexico is a charter member of the UN, having joined on 7 November 1945, and participates in APEC, BCIE, BIS, Caricom (observer), CCC, CDB, CE (observer), EBRD, ECLAC, FAO, G-3, G-6, G-15, G-19, G-24, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA (observer), IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, NAM (observer), NEA, OAS, OECD, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO and WTrO. During the de la Madrid administration (1982-1988), Mexico joined the Contadora Group (with Colombia, Panama, and Venezuela) in an effort to bring about a negotiated settlement to the conflict in Central America.

Mexico, which for many years was the only Latin American nation to recognize Fidel Castro's Cuba, has based its foreign policy on the principles of nonintervention and self-determination of peoples, which it helped incorporate into the charter of the OAS in 1948 (Articles 15–17).

In 1993, Mexico signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), creating a free-trade zone comprising the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The agreement was ratified by all three governments in 1993 and took effect the following year.