Calderón criticizes U.S., Mexico
Chris Hawley
Republic Mexico City Bureau
Sept. 3, 2007 12:00 AM
MEXICO CITY - Mexico's president drew a standing ovation from legislators as he chided Americans for new border fences and their "humiliating treatment" of illegal immigrants during his State of the Union speech on Sunday.
But President Felipe Calderón leveled criticism at his own country as well, warning that Mexico is headed for a crisis if it does not create more jobs, improve education, crack down on tax evaders and find an alternative to its dwindling oil reserves.
The speech was Calderón's first State of the Union address since his disputed win in last year's presidential election. Lawmakers from the leftist Democratic Revolutionary Party boycotted the speech, and about 1,500 protesters jeered Calderón outside the National Palace in Mexico City's colonial center.
The speech was postponed a day and relocated from the capitol building to the National Palace, the former residence of Mexico's presidents, because of fears that opposition lawmakers would rush the podium to block the speech.
Calderón is a conservative who shares the Bush administration's pro-business sentiments.
But he fiercely criticized the United States for failing to reform its immigration system this year while simultaneously bolstering border security.
"I again express an energetic protest for the unilateral measures, taken by the Congress and the government of the United States, that exacerbate the persecution and the humiliating treatment of undocumented Mexican workers," Calderón said.
He criticized the "insensitivity" of the U.S. government toward foreign workers who have strengthened the U.S. economy, and he expressed "categorical rejection to the construction of a wall on our common border."
He was referring to a law, signed by President Bush in October, that authorizes 700 miles of new barriers and alarm systems along the U.S.-Mexican border.
Calderón also pledged a bigger budget for Mexico's consulates to help them defend migrants' rights.
"Mexico does not end at the border," he said. "Wherever there is a Mexican, Mexico will be there."
Calderón also said he would depart from Mexico's longstanding policy of non-intervention, allowing the country to take a bigger role in world affairs.
"We have pushed for an active foreign policy that allows Mexico to be a protagonist and not just a mere spectator of what happens in the world," he said.
Mexico now has the world's 13th biggest Gross Domestic Product, just behind Canada's, according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. The country is widely admired in Latin America for its relative economic strength, democratic reforms and political stability.
Despite its economic progress, however, Mexico is still plagued by drug-related crime. There also have been several apparent acts of terrorism recently.
In July, the leftist People's Revolutionary Army bombed gas pipelines in Central Mexico to demand the release of militants it says are being held by authorities.
And last week, nearly 11,000 workers were evacuated from Mexico's tallest building, the 55-story Torre Mayor, after a bomb was found in a stolen car in the parking garage. No one has claimed responsibility for that bomb.
Calderón spent part of his 80-minute speech defending his decision to dispatch the army to quell violence in smuggling hotspots. The offensive has resulted in 10,000 drug-related arrests, including those of about 20 suspected kingpins, he said.
He also cited plans for a nationwide crime database, much like the system that U.S. officials use to share evidence and check suspects' criminal records.
"There is a gradual re-taking of territories that were in hands of criminals, and with it, the re-establishment of order," he said.
Last year, outgoing President Vicente Fox devoted much of his speech to summing up the achievements of his six-year term. But much of Calderón's speech was cautionary.
"There was a tone of warning, a very direct message to legislators that they need to take action," said Amilcar Peñuñuri, a political science professor at the University of Sonora.
Calderón told Mexicans that the country's oil production was plummeting and that it will likely run out in nine years if no new fields are found. After Canada, Mexico is the United States' second-biggest source of foreign oil.
Oil sales by the state monopoly, Petroleos Mexicanos, account for 40 percent of the government's income. The petro-dollars fill a huge hole caused by the government's failure to collect income taxes.
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