Pubdate: Wed, 17 Aug 2005
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Fox says Mexico will prevail in war against drug cartels
Copyright: 2005 The Dallas Morning News
Contact:  http://www.dallasnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117
Author: Lennox Samuels, The Dallas Morning News

FOX SAYS MEXICO WILL PREVAIL IN WAR AGAINST DRUG CARTELS

Exclusive: President Defends Tenure, Touts Addition Of Democracy

ABOARD MEXICO'S PRESIDENTIAL PLANE - President Vicente Fox on Tuesday 
rejected suggestions that he has lost the upper hand in the fight against 
organized crime and vigorously defended his almost 5-year-old 
administration, saying it has brought "a plenitude of freedom" to Mexico. 
Mr. Fox cited accomplishments that he said include the strongest economy in 
the country's history, the largest monetary reserve, reduced unemployment, 
improvements in education, health care and social services, and above all 
the introduction of full democracy in Mexico.

He said that crime driven by drug trafficking is "a great challenge" for 
Mexico and the United States and that it could get worse before it gets 
better. "Most of our situation derives from narco-trafficking, production 
and consumption," Mr. Fox said in a candid interview with The Dallas 
Morning News en route to the cities of Hermosillo and Tijuana to inaugurate 
transportation projects.

But that situation only "describes this moment," he said, and he expects 
his government to prevail in its continuing faceoff with drug cartels, 
which have been terrorizing parts of the country, notably Nuevo Laredo, 
across the border from Texas.

"Why are we having all these homicides and all these crimes on the 
streets?" he asked. "Why? Because we've been winning this campaign. The 
more we destroy the production of drugs, the more we catch drugs in transit 
.. the more they are desperate and challenging the authorities. "Now that 
this is happening, we are doubling our efforts. We are in a very strong 
strategic drive. We will accomplish our objectives." He said the drugs and 
violence issue was a shared burden for the U.S. and Mexico and noted, "I 
think we have a very strong, good relationship with President Bush's 
government. We have a great relationship based on trust." Mr. Fox 
acknowledged that a chorus of critics has attacked his government, charging 
that it has gotten little done.

"I have a product to sell that I have not been able to sell in Mexico. I 
need to convey the message that people should look for information and 
digest it. That's the difficulty I'm having," he said. "I do accept that 
the message is not getting out."

He said Mexicans are "enjoying absolute freedom" after 71 years of 
authoritarian rule - including, he said, freedom of the press that means 
"everybody can speak loudly and can criticize the president, the first 
lady" and others.

Political reality Mr. Fox said Mexico has to build on that democracy but 
indicated he is limited by political reality.

"I have to say I'm a minority government," he said. "I don't have a 
majority in either the lower house or the Senate."

Mr. Fox said he expects that the next president, to be chosen in July, also 
will operate a minority government.

"I don't think the winner will get more than 40 percent of the vote," said 
Mr. Fox, who was elected in 2000 with 42 percent of the vote. Critics, 
including some U.S. officials, have expressed disappointment with Mr. Fox's 
inability to push reforms and other programs, including overhauling the 
judicial and energy systems, through Mexico's Congress. The country shares 
a 2,000-mile border with the U.S. and is a key strategic partner. The 
countries have been trying to reach an immigration accord for years. Many 
Mexicans survive on remittances, estimated at up to $16 billion a year, 
that they receive from relatives in the U.S. Mr. Fox said critics fail to 
look at other improvements, including "an economy that is growing for the 
first time in decades." He said that the economy is the 10th largest in the 
world and that the unemployment rate, at 3.7 percent, is low even compared 
with the U.S. and Europe. But he added that Mexico does not have enough 
jobs and that the pace of creating new jobs is slow.

Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans leave for the United States each year in 
search of jobs, and many "employed" Mexicans work in the informal economy 
of sidewalk vendors and windshield scrubbers.

"An economy has to have a human face, and that has been our priority - to 
reduce poverty and improve distribution of income," Mr. Fox said. The 
government, he said, has reduced the poverty rate by 30 percent in four 
years and added thousands of people to social security rolls, subsidizing 
the poorest families.

His administration also has dramatically improved access to education, he 
said, noting that "we have coverage; the challenge is quality of 
education." Public education is free, and the government has awarded 
scholarships to 5.6 million children, he said.

"This should be reducing significantly migration in the years to come," Mr. 
Fox said. "Kids will be in school instead of [going to] the United States. 
"In Mexico, any kid that puts [in] his part of the effort, he can reach 
university. No matter how poor his family is. That's a big, big change." 
'Revolutionary change' Critics of the Fox government, including 
presidential candidate and former Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez 
Obrador, say that Mr. Fox's claims are exaggerated and that half of 
Mexicans remain poor.

Mr. Fox said the government would install 175,000 electronic blackboards 
that are digital and interactive in every fifth- and sixth-grade classroom 
in the country.

"This is a big step forward to a standard, high-quality education," he 
said. "This is a revolutionary change in education in Mexico." He added 
that his administration is investing $20 billion in building 600,000 homes 
this year, a number that should jump to 750,000 in 2006. "This government 
is absolutely recognized as the housing government," Mr. Fox said, adding, 
"A program like this can only work when you have a stable economy. "That's 
my message to all of Latin America. Stability pays off. Economic discipline 
pays off. Budgetary discipline pays off. Not having deficits pays off." 
Asked whether he is concerned that a new president, perhaps from the former 
ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, might reverse the 
democratic gains that he has spearheaded, Mr. Fox said, "Democracy is 
exactly that. Anybody can win."

Rather than concern himself with who might win, the president said he is 
focusing on making sure there will be a good transition. "My only 
preoccupation is that we go through this election with full stability. 
That's why we are pre-paying all foreign debt and ensuring economic 
equilibrium. There will be no crisis, no devaluation, no problems like we 
had in the past," he said.

As for any backsliding on democracy, Mr. Fox said he does not expect 
populism or authoritarianism to prevail.

"The last 10 years show where Mexico should go. If Mexico can keep on 
developing through stability, good government, transparency and rule of law 
. that's all we need and that's what we're going to get."
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