As Random 10 reminds us, Mexico's problems are (or become) OUR problems, and the upcoming general unrest is not a good augury:
There is little doubt that trouble in Mexico has immediate reverberations in the United States and there is hope the new administration will focus on more than simply keeping the wealthy elite comfortably safe above the impoverished multitudes.
What's needed is some real evidence that a Calderón presidency will reach beyond the traditional business-elite constituency of the PAN party that both he and Fox represent. The failure to create jobs sends millions of Mexico's poor across the border to work illegally in the United States. The failure to create hope turned the teachers' strike in Oaxaca into an uprising complete with uniformed guerrillas and AK-47 rifles.
It's not exactly news that Mexico has distinct classes: a small super-rich group largely concentrated around Government rent-seekers and some industrialists, and a very LARGE group of impoverished and poorly-educated farmers and laborers.
One would hope that the next President of this country will shove (not "nudge") Mexico's government towards greater economic development for the masses, not the Classes...
Oh yeah, a shove is what they need. Unfortunately, it could just as easily push them off a cliff.
ReplyDeleteOaxaca - Watch
Shoving would be anti-thetical to many in the conservative movement. Third world countries like Indonesia, Thailand, and Japan formerly achieved their advancements by having a highly restrictive tariff and import policy. Between CAFTA and everything else, people are trying to push Mexico to be competitive when there is scant competition within Mexico.
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