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Can Calderon really bring about change?

July 07, 2006 ~ 7:56 a.m.

Calderon talks of reconciliation amongst the Mexican public as well as with the United States. Can he deliver?

There was always so much talk about how not only have Left-wing nationalists nearly completely taken over South America, but that it was inevitable and would spread to Central America. (Mind you, these same pundits said the Conservative party could never again win a Canadian election.)

Well, this kooky, rag-tag Leftist freight train not only suffered setbacks in the recent Colombian and Peruvian elections, but it has been effectively derailed in Mexico. Free-market conservative Felipe Calderon has won the Mexican election. By a thin margin, mind you, but winning is what matters. His Leftist opponent (and Hugo Chavez fan) Andres Obrador demanded a recount, but he should keep in mind that this is denial setting in. Such a request didn't work in Al Gore's or Silvio Burlesconi's favor either.

Calderon told the nation that it was time to "begin a new era of peace, of reconciliation." When you consider the politics is about as bitter as in America at the moment, this will indeed be a momentous task facing the newly elected president.

It is all very well that a man who puts his faith in free-market economics should win in Mexico, where the free-market has traditionally been stifled. Also, Calderon wants a new dialogue with the U.S. Now that conservatives are in power in all three North American-bloc countries, with Stephen Harper's Canada now engaging in friendlier relations with the U.S. as well, this should be a time to heal any wounds and do what it takes to close the rifts between the NAFTA partners.

But Calderon has also stated that he does not want "to lower [his] eyes to the Americans" while instituting friendlier relations. Not an unreasonable request, by any means. But how serious is Calderon about reform within his own borders? Will he balk if we don't pull back the National Guard and cease work on the border fence?

Vicente Fox, after all, stood up for free trade at the free-trade (FTAA) talks in Argentina last November -- even willing to risk Hugo Chavez' ire for so doing and causing a diplomatic spat between Mexico and Venezuela. But Fox also thought he had the right to dictate American immigration policy. Will Calderon pull the same stunt?

We have a Mexican leader who is eager to work with us. And the U.S. owes it to Mexico to help uplift her economically. While we are right to seal the borders, to prevent a virtually overnight cultural shift from occurring, the fact remains -- we launched an illegal war for land against Mexico, and the U.S. still has yet to completely make up for that.

President Bush shoulders some of the weight for warmer Mexican-U.S. relations. But it is up to Felipe Calderon to realize that the same is true for him, or we shall get nowhere.

� M.E.M.

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