AMLO rolled out the red carpet for Cuba’s President Diaz Canel (Opinion)

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s growing love affair with Cuba’s dictatorship and his stint as host this weekend of a leftist-supported summit of Latin American leaders is fueling speculation that Mexico may become the new leader of a Latin American leftist bloc.

López Obrador hosted Cuba’s dictator Miguel Diaz-Canel as a special guest to speak at the Sept. 16 ceremonies for the 200th anniversary of Mexico’s independence. As I wrote in my most recent column, that was a slap in the face of democracy, human rights and Mexico’s dignity.

And over the weekend, Mexico hosted the summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which López Obrador earlier had said would seek to replace or radically transform the Washington-based Organization of American States. López Obrador suggested that the OAS is U.S. “puppet” and should be replaced by a more-independent regional alliance.

But there’s no money nor political strength among Latin America’s leftist governments to revive late Venezuelan autocrat Hugo Chavez’s drive for a regional “anti-imperialist” bloc, regardless of whether it is led by Mexico or by any other country.

Mexico depends on the United States for almost 80% of its exports and for more than $40 billion a year in U.S. family remittances, one of its biggest income sources. That alone would make it hard for Mexico to seriously challenge U.S. policies in the region.