Migrants. Trade. Crime. Trump’s border wall: The challenges to the modern US-Mexico relationship have perhaps never been as stark and divisive as they are now.

So, when outgoing President Enrique Peña Nieto suddenly awarded senior President Trump adviser (and son-in-law) Jared Kushner his nation’s greatest honour, the Mexican population was stunned.

Kushner was inducted into the Order of the Aztec Eagle. It’s an honour reserved for foreigners who make a significant contribution to Mexico’s wellbeing. In this case, it was for a trade agreement.

The USMCA agreement — which replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) dumped by President Trump — is expected to be signed at the G20 meeting of world leaders in Argentina.

He was a “grand ally of Mexico”, President Peña Nieto declared at the announcement, which elevates Kushner to the same league as Bill Gates, Queen Elizabeth II, Walt Disney and Nelson Mandela.

Kushner deserved recognition for “his significant contributions in achieving the renegotiation … avoiding a unilateral departure by the US from the treaty”.

Many Mexicans were not impressed.

After all, Kushner is the son-in law of the man who labelled their people ‘murderers and rapists’. And wanted Mexicans to pay for his ‘very tall’ new border wall.

“Giving him the Aztec eagle is a supreme attitude of humiliation and cowardice,” historian Enrique Krauze tweeted.

Kushner will get the bling pinned to his chest by Peña Nieto at the Buenos Aires G20 summit later this week.

Famous Mexican actor and director Gael Garcia Bernal declared the act would destroy “whatever value this decoration would have had.”

The move will do nothing for the already deeply unpopular President. President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who won a landslide victory in July, takes office on Saturday.

During the fiery election campaign, Peña Nieto was repeatedly accused of having allowed himself — and Mexico — to be bullied by Trump.

“It is the ultimate Peña: He is finished, defeated, humiliated, but he still doesn’t care and offers this award to Kushner to almost show it off,” said analyst at the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics in Mexico City Carlos Bravo Regidor.

With the new president preparing to take power in Mexico City, the two neighbours find themselves lurching between crisis and opportunity on each front.

While the trade dispute that President Donald Trump had fanned with great enthusiasm seems set to ease, the other issues remain unresolved and potential flashpoints for both countries.

President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador takes office just a day after the two nations and Canada sign a replacement trade accord.

Sealing that deal was an achievement for the outgoing Mexican government as well as for Trump’s son-in-law. Kushner. will attend the signing of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement at the Group of 20 summit.

However, Neither Trump, who has reached out multiple times to Lopez Obrador since his election in July, nor Kushner will be at the inauguration. But Vice President Mike Pence will be there as will Kushner’s wife, Ivanka Trump.

Kushner is due to see the Mexican foreign minister and his team next week.

Nevertheless, the administration has yet to nominate a new ambassador to Mexico, a post that has been vacant since May.

“Is it possible for things to go horribly wrong? Absolutely,” said Duncan Wood, director of the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center think-tank in Washington. “Campaign mode is going to be ramping up, and what’s clear is that immigration is not going away as an issue. As long as Trump sees there is a political opportunity to hammer the Mexicans and push Congress to get money for his wall, this is all going to cause problems.”