Lagniappe

 

 

Tod Robberson : Interview with Vicente Fox

Great divide: Vicente Fox defends immigrants' pursuit of the American Dream

Vicente Fox made Mexican history as the first opposition presidential candidate to wrest power from the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, after seven decades of rule. The PRI did not make his term easy from 2000 to 2006. He faced major challenges: powerful drug cartels, corrupt police officials and increasing complaints from the United States about illegal immigration.

In Revolution of Hope, a new book co-authored with Dallas consultant Rob Allyn, Mr. Fox reminisces about Mexico's troubled democratic transformation and its growing role on the world stage. Following are excerpts of a phone interview with Points during his current U.S. visit.

Under your presidency, outward migration from Mexico increased 152 percent. Was there some failure on your part to create jobs or maintain a level of growth that would encourage them to stay?

What you have are gross indicators but no detailed, sustained, factual data. The truth is that immigration activity over the past 100 years has increased constantly. Every year is more than the year before because the U.S. economy has been needing more and more of that productive, quality labor coming from Mexico. Yes, in my term, on average we could speak of about 400,000 who came here looking for the American dream. But they came because they're needed, and they got jobs immediately. ... I think public opinion in the United States deserves additional information so that people can reflect on this issue, understanding that it's a win-win situation.

Do you favor an open-border policy?

That's not my position. I think that we can plan and know the flow of migration according to the needs of [employers] in the United States. The more people retire in the United States ... the more migration is needed. ... Ninety-five percent of the people that farm and [harvest] the most gigantic produce farm in the world are Mexicans. How would San Joaquin Valley work without the Mexicans? I just came through Las Vegas, and the construction industry is maybe the most dynamic that you can see anywhere in the world. And it's sustained by Mexicans there. ... I think that this information should make very clear to U.S. public opinion.

Do you believe it is appropriate for Mexican diplomats to express political views about the tactics used by local governments and police forces, such as Irving, to identify and deport illegal immigrants?

Irving, it's terrible what is going on there. In the book, I deal with, first, the core values of this great nation: the founding fathers' values of equality, freedom, hard work, opportunities for everybody to build up this nation through migration. This nation was constructed by migrants. ... Why are these local police or local authorities like the ones in Irving behaving like they are? It seems to be the [mood] dominating this nation after Sept. 11. And fear should not guide the future of this nation. ... I'm totally against authorities like the ones in Irving. ... Xenophobes cannot be the decision-makers in this nation.

Your book makes clear that you understand American frustrations about the immigration problem. Do you think U.S. citizens are overreacting to the pressures immigrants are placing on school and health systems?

According to the information I have and to some polls, I think the majority of U.S. citizens would go along with a well-structured reform that would bring back legality, order and proper planning to manage the flows of migration. [Those flows clearly show ] the advantages and the support and back-up effort that the Mexican migrants do to the U.S. economy and quality of life in this nation. ... [It is important] to bring in factual information to U.S. public opinion because I think it's very misleading, the position of Mr. Barack Obama. In the case of globalization and immigration, I think he's totally wrong in his position. I try to explain in the book what the real facts are and why that Maytag plant that went to Mexico permitted the survival of the company that, otherwise, would have closed up its doors. But [moving production to Mexico] permitted that company to be competitive and expand its operations and, in the end, keep its jobs in the United States as well as bring in new, additional jobs to Mexico.

As soon as President Felipe Calderón took office, he quickly moved against the drug cartels, including sending troops into northern towns. Is that a repudiation of your approach?

It's an extension. ... While he was president-elect and I was president of Mexico [we discussed] that the No. 1 priority was in security and drugs. Fortunately, Mexico has a great president in Felipe Calderón, a guy with character, with strength. He is going all the way, and I applaud him. In my term, I did what was in my capacity. In those six years, I sent to jail many, many, many cartel drug lords. I extradited to the United States the first two criminals of organized crime. But I'm very happy and really support Felipe Calderón to keep on going with this. Felipe will be the best president that Mexico has had, and I'm sure of that.

Had you hoped to make more progress in your administration?

It's a process. My administration first created the national police, the Policia Federal Preventiva. My administration ... [inherited] the corrupt police force that used to be La Judicial Federal. We finished with it. I gave priority to the security issue, and I advanced as much as possible. Certainly, I'm unsatisfied with what we were able to accomplish, but more so, I'm with Felipe Calderón in the great effort he's doing, and I think what we read today in the papers, that now he's getting economic support from the U.S. to keep up the fight against organized crime – it's great.

Which world leaders made the most positive or negative impressions on you?

In the book, I try to be very, very candid with the real impressions that I got out of my conversations or meetings with different leaders. I think for people it's very important to try to see what happens behind all of those declarations when two leaders meet. Usually, it's just paja [straw] – just talking. But it's important to see what's going on behind. And I speak very candidly on this. I speak about President Bush ... very candidly of the differences we had, of the impressions he made on me. I talk about Putin and the impact he tried to show on me by making me wait in three different rooms before he would receive me. I had to sit down for 10, 15 minutes in each of those rooms, and he would open those spectacular rooms all full of gold to show the power of the Russian Empire. ...

I also speak of my adversaries, like Hugo Chávez, because Hugo Chávez is becoming a dictator too rapidly. The way he speaks, the populist approach to government, the lying and the cheating to people. ... He is spending and dispensing the oil money instead of investing in a productive industrial structure and creating jobs. It's killing Venezuela and the Venezuelans, and he is only going to increase the number of poor in Venezuela. ... I think it's very important to counterbalance these messianic, demagogic leaders because that contaminates and expands to other nations like Bolivia, like Ecuador. I don't see any future for them.

What was the most difficult moment of your presidency?

I would say it was quarter to 12 [on Sept. 28, 2002], the night that the Pemex union was about to strike [over the corruption investigation against union leader Carlos Romero Deschamps, accused of funneling $170 million to the PRI to prevent Mr. Fox from winning the presidency]. When you have the fear of what would happen in Mexico if Pemex strikes, Jesus Christ, that's fearful. That's something you cannot accept. Quarter to 12, they were still sustaining their position and their threat: Either you ... liberate him from the judiciary process, or we strike. Those were the most difficult 15 minutes of my administration. I took the position that any democrat and any ethical person would take. If the guy had done wrong, he should pay for it, and I had the army ready to take over Pemex and try to put it back to work. Maybe it would take months, but values are much more important than money and material well-being. Values and spirituality are key ingredients, and I think that's missing in most politicians in Mexico.

This Q&A was conducted by Tod Robberson, Dallas Morning News editorial writer. His e-mail address is trobberson@dallasnews.com.

09:01 AM CDT on Sunday, October 14, 2007

 

Tod Robberson is Dallas Morning News' editorial writer. (trobberson@dallasnews.com). Petroleumworld does not necessarily share these views.

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Petroleumworld News 10/15/07

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