| | |  Editorials | Opinions | May 2009 
Calderón's Immediate Agenda
 Agustin Barrios Gomez - The News
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 |  | It's time for the government to butt out and for Mexico to fulfill its mission as the place for "food, folks and fun." |  | | |
There are now more H1N1 influenza infections in the United States than there are in Mexico. Mexico City's notorious traffic is back (who would have ever thought that we would cheer the Great Bottleneck?).
International institutions have praised Mexico's response and now the worry has shifted from the spread of this new strain of flu to the possibility that it might pick up some genes from the H5N1 "avian" variety (which has a 60 percent kill rate). If it does, then we would be looking at a pandemic with Hollywood-like ramifications, but chances are that the mix-and-match would start in Asia (home of H5N1). President Calderón is, for the moment, safe from being responsible for the new Plague.
So, what should he do now?
Tourism revenues are set to fall by 40 percent this year (that's about $5 billion). South American opportunists and Chinese hotheads have shown their true "fair-weather friend" colors by foolishly trying to quarantine Mexico. Economic activity in the world's 8th most important city economy, Mexico City, was stifled. Experts predict that this episode will cost the country about 0.69 percent of GDP, but common sense fears much more.
First, it's time to crank up the stimulus.
Mexico has a lot of pent-up supply and demand that is waiting for a reason to start up again.
Second, President Calderón must help the service sector, with higher deductions for business travel and restaurant expenses (national tourism is actually more important than international arrivals). Restaurants have suffered too much - from smoking bans to capricious local authorities and draconian tax laws. It's time for the government to butt out and for Mexico to fulfill its mission as the place for "food, folks and fun" (to borrow an old McDonald's slogan).
Third, let's get the word out. Thankfully, the U.S. government was even-handed in its handling of the influenza crisis, listening to scientists, not populists. Nevertheless, Mexico's image problem remains, not just from H1N1, but from violence and the poverty that get incessant coverage in the media.
As has been mentioned in this column, Mexico needs a multi-disciplinary approach in communicating to the U.S. public. Academics and scholars should be made available to media outlets, cultural events should be coordinated and a mega advertising and media campaign should start today. The campaign should differentiate among Mexico's diverse destinations.
As we all know, Mexico is much more than its caricature. In fact, for tens of millions of Mexicans and Americans, Mexico is the world's best kept secret. Given the issues that confront many communities, it would be naive to think the U.S. State Department could retract all of its travel advisories in the short term. Nevertheless, there are many opportunities to advertise specific destinations as perfectly safe. In that sense, Mexico could promote a tacit (or, better yet, explicit) "seal of approval" from the U.S. State Department, insofar as there is no advisory, or that the U.S. Embassy considers the place OK. Many colonial towns, beaches and cities would have the added benefit of not having suffered from H1N1.
At the same time, business groups could promote the NAFTA zone as the economic region that it is, with tens of millions of border-state Americans benefiting from their links with Mexico. The truth that a dollar spent on Mexican goods benefits the United States much more than one spent elsewhere needs to be far better understood than it is today.
STATUE OF LIBERTAD
This week's reopening of the crown of the Statue of Liberty in New York reminds us of the excellent job other countries have done to honor the U.S. immigrant tradition. In 1886 the French celebrated their friendship with the United States by giving it a statue that stands 93 meters tall (with pedestal), welcoming huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
Mexico, being the most significant source of U.S. immigrant manpower in history, should have a similar gesture. Ours could stand on Catalina Island, at the entrance to the L.A./Long Beach port complex. It would offer an East and West Coast symmetry vis-A -vis Lady Liberty in New York. The original is a tribute to European immigration, while L.A.'s would pay tribute to the New Americans, overwhelmingly Mexican descendants, including the current mayor of Los Angeles.
The point is that President Calderón needs to think outside the box. His high approval levels notwithstanding, Mexico is in a funk. There are plenty of people who are willing and able to help, but they need a coherent vision and some seed capital. That's where the federal government needs to step in. |
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