Interview - Mexican Presidential Candidates
Questions to the three major Mexican presidential candidates:
1. In what way do you think that United States' policies have hindered the economic, political and social development of Mexico?
2. If you were elected president of Mexico, what would you do to change those policies?
ANSWERS:
CUAUHTEMOC CARDENAS
Partido Revolucionario Democratico (PRD)
Mexico's relationship with the United States has opened up important economic, political and social opportunities for Mexico, but it has also generated some significant problems. For example, the Mexican negotiators who signed the North American Free Trade Agreement six years ago authorized an accord that has led to the disappearance of thousands of small- and medium-sized businesses and a dramatic drop in production in different areas of our agriculture. NAFTA does not include any clauses to protect domestic production, especially agricultural production. Nor does it help to consider any special aid to underdeveloped regions or regions hard hit by the lifting of trade restrictions. As a result, a handful of Mexican agricultural exporters and the gigantic U.S. agricultural corporations have been the biggest beneficiaries of NAFTA.
Although NAFTA guaranteed the free flow of capital, services and trade, it failed to include provisions for the free flow of labor across the border. It also left out the protection of civil and labor rights of migrants in the United States. This omission is particularly serious considering the magnitude of the Mexican labor force now working in the U.S.
Without domestic and international regulations, the free flow of speculative capital--which is favored by investors over direct investment--not only does not benefit Mexico, but it constantly threatens to generate crises within the country, such as the one in 1994-95, or to expose Mexico to the financial crises of other countries.
In addition, the NAFTA accord regarding corn production has had disastrous effects, including the long-term destruction of small producers who were forced to abandon maize growth. And the NAFTA-mandated disappearance of state-owned Conasupo, which marketed basic agricultural commodities, has put our national agricultural market at the mercy of huge transnational corporations that control the international grains market.
If elected, I will actively seek to establish international rules of trade that guarantee equitable treatment for Mexico and all nations.
A huge number of Mexicans have emigrated to foreign countries over the past decades, especially to the U.S. Most of these people were forced to leave their own country because of the severe unemployment and poverty that plague Mexico. In the act of crossing the border into our northern neighbor, and during their stays in the U.S., undocumented workers have been victims of repression, exploitation and racial exclusion. Even Mexican citizens who are legal residents in the U.S. suffer from these problems.
Mexican citizens supply labor and creativity to the U.S. They contribute to the progress of the country through their work and the taxes they pay, but they lack the essential individual rights that U.S. citizens enjoy. Although they send a large part of their earnings to their families in Mexico, they do not receive protection or adequate support from the Mexican government.
Recently, the law changed to allow Mexican citizens to keep their legal Mexican nationality status even if they adopt the nationality of the country they live in, but they still do not have the right to participate in Mexico's federal electoral processes. We must protect the individual rights of Mexicans abroad, especially those in the U.S., and provide them with all the assistance we can. We also must support their efforts to keep alive their cultural identity and native languages.
VICENTE FOX
Partido Acion Nacional (PAN
Mexico and the U.S. can greatly benefit from their proximity. Our current relationship can bear even more fruit for both sides when Mexico becomes a democracy. Historically, however, the U.S. has been an unwitting tool of the PRI's grip on Mexico.
Before, the PRI derived its legitimacy the Soviet way: by creating an external enemy to justify internal repression. We were told that the U.S. was responsible for Mexico's ills, and that it continuously plotted to destabilize us further. PAN won a gubernatorial election in Baja California in the 1950s, but the PRI justified stealing that election through "patriotic fraud" because PAN, according to the PRI, was obviously going to sell Baja to the Yankee imperialists. The PRI's Mexico pursued self-victimization to justify corporatism that it cloaked in nationalist appeals. It also engaged in corruption, fraud, censorship and dictatorship.
But as the PRI lost legitimacy at home, the formula changed. Since 1982, the PRI has found in the United States the sources of strength and legitimacy it lost domestically. In addition, numerous U.S.-led economic bailouts helped to retard needed reforms and entrenched a deeply illegitimate government in Mexico. The U.S. regrettably believed the propaganda that criticizing the PRI was criticizing Mexico.
The PRI's obsessive abuse of the word "sovereignty" is indicative of its ambivalence. We have a saying in Mexico: "Tell me what you brag, and I will tell you what you lack." The PRI reduced Mexico's sovereignty by illegally incurring debts without the advice and consent of the governed. Even the most anti-American elements of the PRI deposit their corrupt booty in U.S. banks.
Unlike the PRI, PAN has never viewed the United States with childish ambivalence. The "democratic peace" theory explains why: Mexico's most democratic party will have businesslike and fruitful cooperation with the world's greatest democracy, much like Canada has. We expect the same respect from the United States.
Once I become president, I will work to introduce three basic innovations to deal with the United States:
* Mexicans living in the U.S. will play a crucial role in rebuilding our devastated country. (See www.PRILEGACY.com). * I will lay the foundation for a North American common market within 30 years.
* I will forge a new partnership with the U.S. based on shared democratic values, with the goal of achieving mutual prosperity, sustainability and hope.
The more democracy there is in Mexico, the better relations there will be with the U.S. and the world. Mexico will recover its sovereignty only when the PRI is finally ousted from office.
FRANCISCO LABASTIDA
Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI)
Mexico's relationship with the United States is one of the most dynamic and complex in the world. Our citizens living on the 2,000-mile border are on the front line of the U.S.-Mexico relationship. It is important that the U.S., like Mexico, work hard to support policies that address the common challenges our citizens face on a daily basis.
My administration will focus its efforts on strengthening our policies at home so that we can continue to build a strong and mutually successful partnership. It is essential that we each continue to address the issues in which we share a common bond.
I am committed to meeting the challenges faced by a changing Mexico by building a stable future for our country. I will bring integrity, dedication and experience to this job in order to make my vision of Mexico a reality.
To ensure that Mexico is not held back, my goal is to take our country to the new millennium with a better standard of living. To do that, I have committed to creating a million new jobs a year at better wages; reforming the justice system and strengthening the rule of law; building educational opportunities from preschool through university; and expanding investment in Mexico's greatest resource--our people.
Economic progress must reach everyone. The first step is education. We will work to retool the education system so that it fully prepares students to compete for the jobs of tomorrow. Then we will work with private employers to create work-force development programs and job training. We also will target job-creation efforts in areas with high migration to reduce the number of workers who are forced to leave their communities in search of jobs.
Also, we will expand multilateral cooperation in the fight against our new common enemies: drug cartels, gun traffickers, money launderers and organized crime bosses. To strengthen the rule of law, we will spearhead a top-to-bottom review of Mexico's judicial system and put 25,000 new, highly trained law officers on the streets.
I want to build a better future for Mexico. I am convinced that the values that we share with the United States--the values of democracy, equal opportunity and social justice--are honorable goals to which we should always aspire.
