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 Editorials | Issues | April 2007 
Scholars Say Mexican President Turned Corner
 Joshua Haney - Daily Texan
| | Formerly beleaguered politician has changed minds, experts say |
Long after the dust settled from last summer's highly contested presidential election in Mexico, politicians and scholars gathered at UT last week to assess and review the first 100 days of President Felipe Calderon's government and, much like last summer's elections, the success of his new administration was well-disputed.
The international conference featured politicians representing Mexico's local, state and national governments, as well as the three largest parties in Mexican politics: The Institutional Revolutionary Party, the National Action Party and the Party of the Democratic Revolution.
Though he started with a very low approval rating, Calderon's dedication to issues of public safety and security, an important concern to many Mexicans, won him considerable support, said Jaime Ramirez, a law student.
"Even though the results will be more clear in the future, people are already beginning to feel safer, because they are seeing policemen in the street, and they know that something is being done," Ramirez said.
Alejandro Poire, a political analyst and scholar, argued there was a "legitimate feeling of success" in the Calderon administration, and it has been very productive in turning out much-needed legislation. He pointed toward reformation of the government's pension system and the introduction of a universal health-coverage system for all Mexicans born after Dec. 31 as proof of this success.
Calderon also pushed for a freedom of information act aimed at making the state level of government more transparent, Poire said.
Despite the positive reviews by many of the speakers, panelist Carlos Heredia, the senior adviser on international affairs to Gov. Lazaro Cardenas Batel of the state of Michoacan, saw little hope in true economic and political reform in Calderon.
"I think the single most important issue that President Calderon has yet to tackle is the reform of the power structure in Mexico," Heredia said. "We have a structure that is built and concentrated around a handful of people. It is a corporatist structure in the business sector and we need to promote competition."
Heredia pointed to the monopolization and high prices in Mexico's telecommunication industry as evidence of this consolidated structure.
"From the outside, it would appear that President Calderon faces a dilemma, and even a conflict of interests, because big business funded his campaign," Hereida said.
Due to his ties with these business conglomerates, any sort of reform aimed at promoting competition and breaking the monopolies in Mexico's various industries seems unlikely, Heredia said.
Though debate still continues about the successes and shortcomings of Calderon's first 100 days, for Javier Rojas, a sociology graduate student, the Calderon administration is a step in the right direction.
"For me its like a wheel," Rojas said. "It is starting to move, and eventually, it will start to move faster and faster. All the changes that Mexico needs will begin to take place." |
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