Fox Under Fire in Mexico

...Nevertheless, on July 18 Fox expressed a wish to meet with Marcos informally prior to taking office December 1. Marcos declined the invitation...

...At this writing the legislation is stalled in the Chamber of Deputies...

...The Chiapas leader did not deign to react to that overture...

...Like the Soviet Union's Mikhail S. Gorbachev in the 1980s, the Mexican President is far more popular abroad then he is at home...

...Addison De Witt is the pseudonym of a freelance journalist who lives in Mexico...

...Fox, a Guanajuato native who served as Federal deputy and governor of the state, is accused of strongly favoring the very people who are threatening the lake...

...The invitation not only fell on deaf ears, but the guerrilla chief also absented himself when the Zapatista delegates made their case to Mexico's Congress...

...One ought to value what they represent for the economy...

...Taxi drivers are frequently accomplices in kidnapping tourists—who are then forced to use ATMs to clean themselves out for the benefit of their abductors...

...The extraordinary "grounding" was rooted in an obscure provision of the 1917 Constitution that had never been invoked...

...By completely supporting the Montes Azules settlers, Marcos ranged himself against both the government and the environmentalists...

...Far from being offended, Fox revels in the rough-rancher image...

...In a statement to Reuters, he said he wanted to "smoke the pipe of peace' with the pipe-smoking Marcos...

...The Mexican President has also been charged with a buck-passing attitude toward the rise in violence and street crime...

...To the capital's Mayor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a PRD member and thus a political foe, Fox said in December: "I have this message for Senor...

...Mexico's largest inland body of water is in desperate trouble: Many scientists and ecologists predict it will dry up within five years...

...The two men, who had visited each other's ranches, sat far apart after a formal handshake...

...Dismissing Fox' commitment "to choose dialogue to confront [Zapatista] demands," Marcos reminded him that his predecessor, Emesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon, had made the same promise and two months later "ordered a tremendous military offensive against us...

...But some of these gifted public servants, Zârate observed, at times perform like "an orchestra of soloists...

...On June 7,1911, not even a severe earthquake could temper the delirium of Mexico City's inhabitants when Francisco I. Madero rode in after sending into European exile the old dictator Porfirio Diaz, who had seized power in 1876 and served eight terms as president...

...A Problem of Brashness and Inaction Fox Under Fire in Mexico By Addison De Witt Guadalajara There is no euphoria greater than the one surrounding a political figure who leads a successful revolt against a long established tyranny...

...Neutral proponents of the measure note that Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution obligates the executive branch to protect the nation's hydrological resources...

...No, not yet...

...This was particularly apparent during the October 2002 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Los Cabos, Baja California...

...The door was not slammed shut, though: If Fox were to choose the "path of dialogue, sincerely, seriously, and respectfully," he would "receive a positive response from us," the Subcomandante added...

...Summit delegate Antonio Gonzalez, head of a Latino think tank called the William C. Velasquez Institute, put forward a challenge to both leaders "to seize the opportunity and approve new immigration policies that would strengthen political ties for generations to come...

...Madero ended the one-man rule of Diaz, while Fox put a stop to the collective reign of a corrupt and sclerotic political structure that had assumed control in 1928...

...He had planned a meeting with business leaders and prominent academics in the United States and Canada...

...That would be both a natural and economic disaster...

...Fox went on national TV to denounce the ban, explaining that it kept him from conferring with key figures in a position to benefit Mexico...

...Fox is aware of Bush's dilemma and concedes that it may take several years to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement...

...José Ignacio Campillo, head of the Federal Environmental Protection Office (PROFEPA), characterizes that accusation as "absolutely false...

...Here the President seemed on solid ground...

...Alfonso Zârate, director of an interdisciplinary consulting group, seems to agree...

...After rightly pointing out that Marcos was being allowed to travel freely in the country, Fox remarked that "he has a standing invitation to come to my office any day he wants so we can talk...

...On December 19 he went to Tijuana to welcome Mexican migrant workers coming home for the holidays...

...Yet 15 and a half months later he would be overthrown in a Right-wing coup, and then murdered...

...president in Mexico's history—not necessarily a political asset here—and in return received "nothing but kisses," he has come under fire as well from American Latinos...

...To put it in terms of an analogy most Americans will understand, Coach Fox is only five minutes into the second quarter and there's a lot of football to be played...

...In part, yes...

...With only a third of his term served, the Mexican President's greatest ally is time...

...Possibly due to Marcos' increasingly erratic behavior, Fox appears to be resigned to the fact that prospects for a face-toface (face-to-mask...

...They point out that in various important areas, such as education and labor harmony, the Fox administration scores high marks...

...In late 2001 the California Latino Summit addressed an open letter to Fox and President George W. Bush, chiding them for not doing enough to formulate "concrete immigration policies that respect human dignity...

...COMPOUNDING FOX' woes is the erosion of his once superfriendly relationship with Bush...

...he is facing pressure toward legalization from Latinos (whom he genuinely wishes to court), and equally strong pressure from conservative anti-immigration elements in his own party and state...

...Then, a day after the inauguration, he sent a letter to Senor—not Presidente—Fox that bordered on insult...

...Fox' political enemies also impute a sinister motive to his inaction...

...Besides the complaint that he has been the most pro-US...

...Geographically, they observe, the chief villain in the lake drama is the neighboring state of Guanajuato...

...Instead, he and Zapatista Subcomandante Marcos have been playing out a drama that resembles an unwanted suitor meeting with the contempt of an unattainable lady...

...An estimated 30,000-40,000 foreigners, mostly Americans, currently live in the area...

...Mexico City today is rivaled only by Moscow for the dishonor of being the world's most dangerous large city...

...the Zapatista high command encouraged Indian communities to assert their autonomy, "with or without the law...

...The slaying took place in the upscale San Angel section of town, a factor contributing to its shock value...

...Last December 3, Mexico's Senate drafted a plan that would place Fox' feet to the fire...

...Last October former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani signed a one-year contract to teach the Mexico City police force the meaning of "zero tolerance," His salary will be paid by COPARMEX, a business group...

...Still, a number of sophisticated analysts suggest it would be a mistake to focus exclusively on his mistakes...

...This has a lot to do with frequent exposure...

...In his first 18 months in office he traveled abroad 19 times, calling on such world leaders as Pope John Paul II and heads of state in Europe, Asia and throughout the Americas...

...As the standard bearer of the Right-of-center National Action Party (PAN), he attracted many voters because he was perceived less as a Rightist than a nonideological populist who offered humane, common-sense solutions to a variety of problems...

...Critics scoff, claiming the Indians are being uprooted to make room for luxury hotels—that of course will be piously designated "centers of ecotourism...

...The ban applied only to the April trip...

...Although few envision President Vicente Fox suffering Madero's tragic fate, he seems to be duplicating the pattern of a bright dawn followed by an increasingly cloudy day...

...On November 6 of that year Madero took office, having won 99 per cent of the vote in a free election...

...Well-meaning but vacillating, Madero had alienated both peasant revolutionaries like Emiliano Zapata and a powerful military/Big Business clique that not-sosecretly pined for the old regime...

...According to government representatives, this is to protect the natural surroundings...

...This past January 1, the ninth anniversary of the Zapatista uprising, the Subcomandante finally came on the scene...

...Does all this mean Fox' term, after a bright beginning, is on an irreversible downward course...

...Should it gain final approval, the government would be required to take lake-friendly steps like modernizing irrigation equipment and improving the treatment of residential and industrial wastewater...

...Public safety [in the Federal District] has nothing to do with us and everything to do with him...

...As with the Chiapas challenge, he was ebullient during his campaign about saving Lake Chapala...

...In April 2002 Fox' peripatetic ways led to humiliation: He was barred from leaving the country by a 71 -41 vote in the Senate...

...The letter continued, "With the Zapatistas you have zero credibility...

...Last November 25, he sent a letter to a Mexico City daily hysterically denouncing Spain's policy regarding its Basque minority...

...Migration is another burr under Fox' saddle...

...Now there is a mounting perception that he is a man who talks a good fight but doesn't back up his words...

...until we find what we are looking for, which is nothing more, Sefior Fox, than democracy, liberty and justice for all Mexicans...

...As a former business executive, Fox prides himself on being a master "headhunter" (the word is always given here in English) when it comes to attracting talent...

...Fox' determined and patient attempts to solve this thorny issue have not prevented him from becoming the target of a domestic backlash...

...Fox' courtship of Marcos actually began in February 1998, before he was even chosen as PAN'S presidential candidate...

...Marcos delivered another snub in March 2001, when he came to Mexico City in conjunction with the campaign for indigenous rights...

...Appearing recently on a panel assessing the administration, he praised the performance of Cabinet officials like Labor Secretary Carlos Abascal and Interior Minister Santiago Creel...

...and the society of the United States...

...it pointed to Fox' identification with neoliberal doctrine and alleged desire to turn Mexico into a "megastore that sells human beings and natural resources at prices dictated by the world market...

...Is history repeating itself...

...Fox was obviously unhappy about the lack of progress on immigration...

...on the contrary, they are a factor for development...

...But not until very recently did he say a word about a serious situation brewing in the Zapatista heartland of Chiapas, the Montes Azules region, where Indian communities are being moved out...

...President Fox, a top Coca-Cola executive before entering politics, has the optimism of a born salesman...

...Fox used the occasion to renew his appeal for a pact that would legalize the status of some 4 million Mexicans living and working in the U. S.: "The migrants are not a threat...

...Lately he has been displaying signs of eccentricity that have alarmed some of his strongest supporters...

...Lopez Obrador...

...Completely apart from ideology, Fox is hobbled by his personal manner, considered by some to be grosero ("coarse...

...René Drucker, a university professor on the same panel, singled out Education Minister Reyes Tamez Guerra for kudos...

...By a 68-40 vote, it passed a bill that would give the President 120 days to declare the lake basin an ecological disaster area or use his veto...

...When criticized for calling his presidential opponent, Francisco Labastida, a "sissy" and a "transvestite," Fox was not the least bit contrite...

...But the honeymoon was short-lived...

...After the July 2, 2000 election, however, he did obliquely respond to the 15-minutes boast made during the campaign by saying the newly elected administration should be ready not simply to end the armed conflict but to meet the demands of Mexico's indigenous people...

...The list included San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, plus financiers and potential investors...

...in October Fox visited British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London...

...He has blundered in too many instances and candidly admits that last year was "difficult...

...I may stop being vulgar," he told Labastida in a nationally televised debate, "but you will never stop being corrupt...

...On December 17, a man was sentenced to 65 years in prison (Mexico has no death penalty) for killing an American in February 2001 to get his wristwatch...

...An ABCNEWs.com profile referred to him as "the cowboy president," citing his penchant for boots, cusswords and tequila (which he admits he prefers to champagne...

...The gesture spotlighted Operation Paisano, a program to ensure that migrants are treated fairly on return and not subjected to extortion or other abuse by unscrupulous officials...

...meeting with the Subcomandante are dim to nil...

...The quake's death toll of 207 did not prevent the emergence of a popular jingle linking triumph and tragedy: "Some say yes and some say no,/ But when Madero arrived even the earth trembled...

...A subsequent poll revealed the Mexican public disapproved of the restriction by a ratio of 21. Moreover, there was an unmistakable partisan quality to the prohibition, with Fox' PAN solidly opposing it and an alliance of the formerly ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PPJ) and the Leftleaning Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) supporting it...

...Though personal relations between the two have cooled...

...The waters of the Lerma River, a prime Chapala feeder, have increasingly been diverted by Guanajuato agricultural interests for irrigation...

...But he concluded by warning that "we will have to continue our armed struggle...

...Long periods of silence are broken by outbursts with little relation to Chiapas...

...He called antiterrorist Judge Baltasar Garzón "an obscene clown," former Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez a "buffoon," and King Juan Carlos "constipated...

...Not since the Chicago Tribune trumpeted "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN" has there been a political utterance so embarrassing to its author as Fox' declaration that he could solve the Chiapas rebellion in 15 minutes...

...Yet Fox seems strangely insouciant in the face of this mounting horror...

...The Guadalajara-Lake Chapala climate, described as one of eternal spring, would acquire the arid characteristics of a desert—becoming much drier and hotter in summer, much colder in winter...

...A major reason for his present predicament is a tendency to overinflate his ability...

...They would undertake a pell-mell exodus if weather conditions deteriorated, resulting in a crash in real estate values...

...Some 20,000 rebels marched into San Cristobal de las Casas and virtually took over the city...

...If Chiapas is Fox' most pressing political/military problem, the beautiful Lake Chapala is his foremost environmental concern...

...In fairness, Bush finds himself in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation...