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Page 6 of 9 So Far So Good - President Calderon's Early Months In OfficeApril 2007 Things are looking up for Mexico under President Calderón. Four months into his 6-year term, it looks like he not only has his priorities straight (security and economic reform), but is also able to do things President Fox couldn’t, such as negotiate with the Congress.
Meanwhile, most political analysts are happy (or sad, depending on how you look at it) that there are no longer any daily gaffes coming from Los Pinos and that the mayor of Mexico City isn’t in a shouting match with the presidency. High points: a successful, if rowdy, inauguration in Congress on December 1st, high-quality presidential speeches, universal health insurance for newborns, top-notch economic cabinet, showy war against Mexico’s multiple mafias, the extradition of top narcos to the U.S., and the passing of the ISSSTE reforms. Low points: lack of control over the reactionaries who head up Calderón’s party, continued violence in different parts of the country, and the use of the military for what should be civilian law enforcement. All in all, a good start to the sexenio, especially considering the monumental hissy fit PRD challenger Andrés Manuel López Obrador threw, ending in a Felliniesque “parallel universe” inauguration in the Zócalo. Now at the mention of the dread AMLO, people are beginning to ask: “López-who?” One of President Calderón’s secret ingredients is that he runs a tight ship. No longer are we privy to palace secrets at the first hint of discontent on behalf of Fox’s Montessori cabinet. Even the President’s appearances are perfectly choreographed, with his first actual press conference being the one he had with President Bush in Mérida on the 14th of March. This has allowed him to work with Congress behind the scenes and was the master-stroke behind convincing the former über-party, PRI, to vote with the right in favor of privatizing public-sector worker’s retirement accounts. The economy is humming along nicely, despite the smoke coming from the hood of the U.S. economy’s chassis. We’re not seeing the near-5% rates that closed 2006 with a bang, but given the worldwide financial turbulence of the past couple of weeks it speaks to the credit of Mexico’s solidity that there’s not even a whiff of Tequila Effect in the air. What is relatively tame, but constant, economic growth is masking spectacular expansion in certain areas of the country, such as the area around the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortés), Querétaro and, of course the coast of the Yucatán peninsula. In a recent breakfast your correspondent attended, Secretary of Communications Luis Téllez (formerly of the Carlyle Group – a favorite with conspiracy theorists), promised massive investment in infrastructure, which should pump up areas like the coast of Colima and Michoacán. All this is great news for our community. It means that we can expect even further convergence in terms of the interest rates offered to foreigners who are purchasing property in Mexico. It reinforces the Wal-Martization of Mexico’s suburbs (for good or ill, but certainly for convenience) and it means that the massive build-up to receiving millions of retiring baby boomers from the U.S. continues apace. As if in anticipation, the U.S. Embassy has just purchased a 100 acre lot in Santa Fe (in the western tip of Mexico City) where it plans to centralize its enormous operations, consolidating Mexico City as the capital with the largest U.S. Embassy in the world (bar Baghdad, of course) and ramping up their presence to 1200 diplomats. Finally, be on the lookout for how the war on crime fares. Fortunately, there are many places in Mexico that are very safe (Mérida, Querétaro, all of the Sea of Cortés resorts, etc.), but there are still things to do in this area if Mexico is going to remain a world-class destination for second-home buyers. From what Sam sees, Calderón’s regime could prove to be a watershed period for Mexico’s development. Return to top
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