INDEPTH: MEXICO
The Coca-Cola Kid: Mexico's Vicente Fox
CBC News Online | June 29, 2006
One of the first world leaders to call Vicente Fox after he won the Mexican presidential election in July 2000, was Prime Minister Jean Chretien. Fox was happy to hear from the Canadian prime minister – Fox has a genuine fondness for Canada – and when he clicked off from Ottawa he told reporters, "You can see he has Latin roots."
Indeed the leaders would come to share a common opinion on at least one issue: Iraq. Both Chretien and Fox refused to support the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, calling instead for more weapons inspections.
Fox has always been of the view that Canada and Mexico can be important allies, as well as important trading partners. He believes Canada and Mexico can find common cause as minority members of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), displaying some synergistic clout as the two countries stand up to the giant that is the United States.
Coming to power
Heads around the world turned when Fox and his National Action Party (PAN) ended 71 years of rule by Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Fox's success has been attributed to his business smarts and the work he did mending fences with Mexico's business elite, most of whom would not admit supporting Fox for fear of reprisals should he fail to beat the political juggernaut of the PRI.
He campaigned for the presidency vigorously and stylishly – often on horseback, wearing polished cowboy boots – and his slogan was, "Enough!" meaning, enough corruption, enough drug lords, enough fraud. He ridiculed his main opponent, the PRI's Francisco Labastida, calling him "shorty" and "sissy" and pronouncing his surname to make it sound like the Spanish slang for "transvestite."
Tall, tough rancher
Fox, who turns 64 on election day 2006, is a strapping, mustached, six-foot-six rancher who gained his business savvy by working as a Coca-Cola executive for 15 years. After graduating with a business degree from Mexico's Universidad Iberoamericana in 1964, he went directly to Coca-Cola de Mexico.
"At the university, they taught me to reflect and to analyze," Fox told The New York Times in 1999. "But working at Coca-Cola was my second university education. I learned that the heart of a business is out in the field, not in the office. I learned strategy, marketing, financial management, optimization of resources. I learned not to accept anything but winning."
Fox left his job with Coca Cola in 1979 and moved his family from Mexico City to the industrial city of Leon in Guanajuato where he worked with his two brothers managing two footwear companies and a large vegetable farm. He ran for governor of Guanajuato in 1991, lost, then ran again in 1995 and won in a landslide. Fox is now divorced and has four adopted children.
Fox promised to have his new government named and a new national budget framed by Sept. 1, 2000. He wanted the best people in his cabinet, even if it meant appointing members from opposition parties and using top international headhunting firms to find the best people.
Fox believes that NAFTA should eventually allow for the free movement of people as well as products and services across North American borders. He cites the example of Europe, where 25 years ago Spain, Greece and Portugal were the poor salaried cousins of Italy, Germany and England. Today, he says, that difference has been eliminated, thanks to the common market.
Shoot for the moon
His long-range goals for the country included economy growth of seven per cent, which he says would create 1,350,000 new jobs. However, his immediate focus was to improve the income of Mexican workers, which he sees as the best way to approach parity with the U.S. and Canada, his country's major trading partners. (Two-way trade between Mexico and Canada currently is about $13 billion a year.)
Poor incomes in Mexico explain the vast, mostly illegal exodus of Mexicans to the United States. Hardly surprising, Fox says, when a worker makes $5 a day in Mexico and knows he can make $60 a day across the border. The huge U.S. grape harvest – as well as other agricultural work – could not be achieved without the arrival of Mexicans at harvest time.
Fox also champions a North American common market, with a common currency. This hasn't gone over as well as his other reforms. Canada's National Post cautioned against any move to a common market with a common currency, fearing the adoption of the U.S. dollar as the currency. The Post editorial warned, "We are just good friends, Mr. Fox; we have no intention of getting married."
A year before the election, Fox said the challenge of defeating the ruling PRI party was comparable to President John F. Kennedy's promise in the early 1960s that he would put a man on the moon within 10 years of gaining office. Fox sees the goal of a level playing field with the U.S. and Canada as a similar challenge, but one that might take 30 years to achieve.
A legacy of democracy
When Fox's replacement is inaugurated on Dec. 1, 2006 — Mexico's constitution bars him from running again in the July 2 election — he will leave a legacy of democracy, warts and all.
After six years of Fox's leadership, Mexico has a stable economy, thanks to a strong central bank and the foray into the world economy. But, Fox did not create the millions of jobs he promised. Mexico was hit hard after the slowdown in the early years of the decade. Job creation fell short of targets. Wages are still low — minimum wage is 47.05 pesos or $4.63 Cdn.
Even for Fox, democracy had its downfalls. Congressional battles held up reforms and irked disgruntled voters. Fox didn't have a majority in congress, where the PRI stood strong. His opponents blocked plans for a tax overhaul, a change in labour laws and an increase in private investment in the state-run oil industry.
And, the end of one-party governance may have been one of the reasons some of Fox's goals weren't met. Fox had to reinvent most of the government institutions, as they were riddled with corruption.
But, Fox ushered in electoral reforms. The budget is balanced and there is enough cash in reserves should Mexico hit another economic downturn. Fox implemented the "Oportunidades" program, which improved the living conditions of five million Mexican families. According to Fox's website, a million families have free medical service and medicine, and more than five million children received grants for their education. Change can also be seen in the small indicators of rising prosperity, such as shiny new cars and Starbucks franchises.
Fox has acknowledged that some of his promises may have been too optimistic. But, even Fox's critics give him credit for establishing a stable economy, which is expected to grow, and for bringing democracy to Mexico, an achievement in itself.
Mexico's next presidential election will be held July 2, 2006.
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| QUICK FACTS: |
Mexico is the third-most-visited country by Canadians (after the U.S. and the UK). In 1999, 608,000 Canadians spent $557 million in Mexico.
Mexico has a population of 100 million people — Canada’s population just tops 30 million.
The average income in Mexico is about $11,993 a year — in Canada it’s about $39,482 (2002 CIA figures).
Mexico’s last presidential election was held July 2, 2000.
Of the 36,781,628 people who voted, 42.5 per cent voted for Fox, 36.1 per cent voted for PRI candidate Francisco Labastida, and Cuauhtemoc Cardenas of the Party of the Democratic Revolution came in third with 16.6 per cent.
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| CBC STORIES: |
Jan. 13, 2004: Bush, Fox discuss bilateral issues as Summit of the Americas opens
Jan. 12, 2004: Mexican president offers support for Bush's immigration plan
July 7, 2003: Voters snub Mexico's Fox
Feb. 28, 2003: Mexico's Fox calls Canada's Iraq plan 'productive'
Feb. 27, 2003: Chrétien, Fox discuss Iraq in Mexico City
June 29, 2002: Fox slammed over human rights record
April 10, 2002: Mexican Senate blocks Vicente Fox's trip to Canada, U.S.
July 3, 2001: Mexican president weds
April 19, 2001: Chrétien calls talks with Fox 'fruitful'
April 19, 2001: Mexico's Fox in Ottawa for pre-summit meetings
August 22, 2000: Fox will be pressed to improve human rights in Mexico
July 8, 2000: Fox to fight Mexico's police corruption
July 4, 2000: Fox outlines new vision for Mexico
July 3, 2000: Fox promises change in Mexican politics
July 2, 2000: 71-year political dynasty over in Mexico
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