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 Editorials | Issues | January 2007 
Calderon Worries About Rise of "Undemocratic" Governments In Region
 Associated Press
| | Mexico's President Felipe Calderon speaks at the government palace in Mexico City, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2007. Calderon signed an accord with businesses to contain soaring tortilla prices on Thursday, protecting Mexico's poor from speculative sellers and a surge in the cost of corn driven by the U.S ethanol industry. (AP/Marco Ugarte) |
President Felipe Calderon expressed concern about what he described as the rise of "undemocratic" and "lifetime" regimes in Latin America, but expressed hope in an interview published Wednesday that Mexico could serve as a counterweight to that tide.
Calderon's predecessor, Vicente Fox, engaged in diplomatic spats with some of the region's leftist leaders, but Calderon has been seeking to strengthen ties with the rest of Latin America since taking office on Dec. 1.
"For many countries, the rise of new types of lifetime or undemocratic regimes is a cause of concern, which necessarily opens up space (for Mexico) to play a balancing role in the region," Calderon told the newspaper El Universal on Tuesday.
Calderon, a conservative, said he felt confident Mexico could play such a role "for the good of the region," even though Latin America now has a significant number of leftist governments.
"Paradoxically, the presence of political currents different from mine makes Mexico's participation ever more important and appreciated," Calderon said.
While leftist candidates lost presidential elections in Mexico, Colombia and Peru in 2006, they won more recently in Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela. |
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