Excerpts from Vicente Fox's Presidential Address Last Night (Translation)

Entire text of the message of President Fox to the nation

Message of President Vicente Fox Quesada to the Nation on the occasion of his VI Government Report

Mexican men and Mexican women:

As President of the Republic, the Constitution obligates me to attend the Congress each year, to present before the Deputies and Senators, a report about the results of the management of the Federal Government.

On this occasion, a group of legislators of the Party of the Democratic Revolution prevented the President of the Republic from being able to direct his message to the Congress and to the nation, on the occasion of the VI Government Report.

This attitude, contrary to democratic practices and to the exercise of freedom, does not represent an offense against my person, but instead to the Presidential Investiture and to all the people of Mexico.

In democracy, all voices must be heard.

In democracy, the Government is obligated to render an accounting to society and this is justly the sentiment of the annual report of the Government.

As our Magna Carta demanded, I have already attended the Congress of the Union and handed in the written report.

In light of these facts I have decided to direct myself to you, the female and male citizens of Mexico, to render an accounting and to share a political reflection on the course of six years of Government.

The strength of our democracy lies in the strength of the citizenry.

Mexico today is a nation of citizens; a nation of free women and men.

Society is now the principal actor in Mexico's great transformation. Its voice is the expression of the democracy we have constructed.

During these six years, as Mexican women and men we have taken into our hands the task of fortifying and giving full use of the Republic.

The separation of powers has consolidated itself as the pillar of the new democratic governability; as the principle to continue advancing along the road of unity, social peace, the common good, and democracy.

As the three powers of the union we assume the commitment of work, with an ample feeling of shared responsibility, in the defense of the national interest.

As never before; we, the Legislative, Judicial and Executive have complied with and respected the decisions which issued forth from the bosom of another branch.

The full use of this republican balance has been a fundamental element for the fortifying of our institutions.

We have fully entered the era of deliberation.

Today, the great decisions are the product of democratic debate and shared responsibility.

The establishment of a constitutional presidency demanded a difficult adjustment in the practices of Government, not exempting moments of tension.

The Mexican State functions ever more so under a system of weights and counterweights, which has become a solid base for the construction of agreements.

In this new stage, we have passed from Federalism in speech to Federalism in deeds.

We have put an end to a centralism which degrades the authority of local governments.

Today, Federalism signifies shared responsibility in the solution of local problems with a national vision.

The effective and constructive concurrency of the different orders of Government fortifies and exalts the Republic.

Democracy is synonymous with liberty, and today Mexico is living an authentic system of liberty.

Thanks to the arduous and prolonged struggle of society, we can now participate, disagreeing and agreeing, with the dignity of free women and men.

The freedoms of expression and the press, of association and assembly, are now reflective of an open and pluralistic society. Now they must also be factors of national unity.

We Mexican women and men believe in the force of right, not in the right of force.

We have converted the law into the first instrument of Government and the best guarantee of citizen freedoms and rights.

The respect for law is not nor can it ever be discretional; it is the basic condition of the social contract.

Today, democracy is the verb and the noun of national life.

Democracy consolidates itself with strict affection for law; in the respect for institutions; in the open dialogue between all political forces and in the making of decisions through agreement.

Still being perfectible, institutions are the most solid base of governability.

They are an essential part of our history.

Without institutions, citizen action dilutes itself.

Without laws and without institutions, democracy annihilates itself.

As never before, today the public management is truly public, facing the citizenry.

The transparency and the surrender of accounts are today points of our democratic life and prized public goods.

Thanks to the shared responsible action of the Executive and Legislative branches, today we count with a law and an institute which promotes transparency.

The new and growing participation of civil society has been the key to watching the management and the good use of federal public resources.

In the consolidation of the State of Right, the Judicial Branch has been the decisive factor by which our democracy is fit to act under clear and just laws.

The Judicial Branch has also been responsible for the attachment to lawfulness. Its resolutions have given certainty to national political growth.

The vitality of the Congress reflects the depth of our democracy.

The Legislative Branch has taken substantial steps to construct a new legal standard favoring the development of a more prosperous, just, equitable, and inclusive society.

The laws passed in these six years are the basis of a nation which condemns and punishes violence against women; which combats discrimination, of a Mexico that affirms the dignity of native peoples, children, people with differing capacities and the elderly; of a country which guarantees to all the right of health and education.

Our democracy has also fortified itself with laws which assure transparency and the right to information; with laws which guide us towards an economy centered on the well-being of people and which promotes development in the countryside, and with economic reforms which give us certainty and stability.

Where poverty and inequality prevail, democracy cannot plant firm roots.

Effective democracy only occurs between equals; its consolidation demands the overcoming of poverty.

Poverty diminishes the dignity of people and impedes the construction of a full citizenry.

We have promoted the convergence of social and economic policies, as the base upon which to construct a more just and humane society; a society proud of its multi-ethnic and multicultural identity; a society committed to settling its historic debt with its native peoples.

These have been years of intense work, for which the rights to nourishment, health, quality of education and life of millions of children and young people, women and men would be made worthwhile; for which they would be able to expand their capacities and opportunities.

They are the present and the future. Their future is the future of Mexico.

Without economic growth, there is no human development.

The mandate we received from the citizenry was to combine democracy with economic growth and social equity.

Today democracy and economic stability go hand in hand; they are the firm floor of national development.

Thanks to a responsible handling of economic policy, Mexican women and men have increased national growth, reducing poverty and improving the quality of life of families.

We have also managed to diminish inflation and interest rates to historic levels.

We have not indebted future generations. On the contrary, we have reduced in a substantial manner the external public debt.

We have established the putting of the public finances in balance and, with the valuable collaboration of the Congress, we have caught up.

This accomplishment, unknown in history, will permit the next Government to begin with healthy public finances. . . .

. . . Democracy is a conquest of conscience and reason.

It is a heritage of all Mexicans; a heritage which is itself caught up in the struggle of generations.

To live in a democracy is our decision. It is the responsibility of everyone to fortify and make it more effective.

Democratic governability advances by the institutional path. Today political and social conflicts are handled in institutions.

Democracy is not an end in itself; it is a means to bring the nation together and to attain the development everyone wants.

The true democrats think, speak, and act with a love for the values and the norms of democracy.

Being a democrat means more than proclaiming that you are one.

Democratic conviction demonstrates itself in deeds.

This year has been an especially sensitive one in our political life. It is necessary to evaluate in light of the freedoms which democracy has given us.

Last July 2 we were participants in the most crowded and competitive electoral process of our history.

With full freedom, we, Mexican women and men, have decided the course of the nation.

As a whole an exemplary civic spirit has prevailed in this process, which shows the soundness of our institutions.

The Federal Electoral Institute and the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Power of the Federation demonstrated, once again, that they are bastions of our democracy.

With citizen participation, democracy has fortified itself. To not recognize this is to negate the collective will.

The citizens are the best witnesses of this historic process.

Mexico is a pluralistic nation. The mandate of the ballot box has been dialogue and agreement.

Dialogue is a foundation of democracy.

In democratic Mexico, the engine of transformation is the vote of the citizenry, not the veto of institutions.

One must not subdue democracy beneath the argument of democracy.

One must not attempt to corner it by way of instransigence and violence.

Whoever attacks our laws and institutions, attacks our history, attacks Mexico.

No one can speak for the people while they attack them.

A divided society is a weak society; a society incapable of carrying out its aims; incapable of attending to the most needy.

We all have the obligation of promoting the understanding that brings us to find the things we have in common, conciliates differences, visions and opposing interests.

Mexico demands prudence, not stridency.

Mexico needs open minds to prevail, not closed minds.

Mexico demands harmony, not anarchy.

It is a time for unity.

It is a time for unity around the values and institutions of the nation; for unity in carrying out the yearnings for democracy, justice and the social welfare of the Mexican people.

Beyond affiliations and differences, we have a common history and future.

Mexico is a generous country in which we all fit together.

In this VI Government Report, I want to recognize female and male citizens for their will and determination to live in peace and harmony.

History will have to value the commitment of those who participated in the construction of Mexican democracy.

I thank all the political and social activists for their commited work in the highest interests of the nation.

Each citizen, from his field of competition, has put all his will into making Mexico the democracy which today makes us proud.. . . .

Democracy was worth the trouble.

Democracy is worth the trouble.

Long live democracy.

Long live Mexico.

Once again, many thanks to all women and men.

Good evening.

You stated your points very well, and I appreciate your respectful dissent. My statement was, and is, directed at United States interest and policy. I have long advocated a more aggressive US economic policy with respect to Mexico, dating back to the Bracero program. However I am an American and consider our interests first. In the event that economic and trade incentives do not properly benefit both the US and Mexico, there must remain a punitive disincentive option on the part of the US. Including tarriffs and the use of force.

This quote from your dissertation is spot on: And then there are the state-run monopolies in the Oil and Electricity industries that are still a source of significant corruption among the state bureaucrats who run them. Kickbacks for job placement and promotions, bribes funneled into the right hands result in the awarding of contracts, and the outright purchasing of union agreements by their leaders, at times under terms contrary to the interests of their own rank and file, are all still a part of the way "business is done" in Mexico today. It is no longer possible to raid the treasury directly or to deposit public funds in private accounts, even if just to keep the interest, the way things used to be under the PRI, which is Fox's success, but that is not enough.

Unless the citizenry and government of Mexico stand up and fix the economic and social problems that get wrongfully blamed on us, your US neighbors, our patience will evaporate rapidly. In case no one else noticed, there are people that want to eliminate the USA. Even if we simply become weakened, Mexico is screwed. If one is to look at Japan and Germany, having the Mexican government replaced by American force is not necessarily a bad thing. But Spain would be pissed.

I'm glad you appreciate the spirit of respectful argument. I have no problem with your distinct viewpoint and there are points upon which we do agree. I think you noticed that I do see deeply-embedded corruption as a continuing problem in Mexican public life. I see Fox as only starting the process and, to be honest, I am more than a little disappointed that more was not accomplished. But at the end of the day I look at the other guys as something out of a continuing nightmare, which really defines my perspective.

There is one point upon which I am grateful to Mexico as pursuing policies reflective of U.S. interests and that has to do with oil production. Mexico has always refused to join with OPEC and they still rely primarily upon U.S. technical assistance -- Calderon, who served as Oil Minister under Fox for a brief period wants to do a lot more in this vein -- in the development of their petroleum industry. And in some ways, Mexico has gone a lot farther to draw a sharp line between their country and others dominated by the Latin American Left than we have. Mexico has no official relations with Venezuela, something I pointed out earlier in this thread.

This is a very complex problem in which I see Mexico progressing slowly, much more so than I would like, but at the same time I see them confronting some of the worst of the Latin American Left, which I do give them credit for.

Alright everyone, here is an article to read which I believe gives the true story on what was going down outside the legislative chambers at San Lazaro in Mexico City last night. The violence shown in this story -- and see my picks in post #15 for a view -- puts the lie to Lopez Obrador's claim of "peaceful civic resistance." In short, the PRD legislators inside the legislature depended upon the pressure exerted by the violent protestors outside, which is what you will read about below, in order to distract the police and everyone else so as to permit the taking of the rostrum inside.

In other words, the PRD insistence that theirs is a "peaceful movement of civil resistance" is a pure lie.

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Pancho Villas and panthers assault the PFP; they used bats, pipes, and sticks; they shook up reporters.

Before the fire . . .

There were policemen who, after the announcement in the Zocalo capital square, lowered their shields and met together to seize scrap iron bars. The few pedestrians who were roaming the zone, knowing the negative PRD intent to march on the Legislative Palace, were laughing at them and their three meter barricades which by just after five o'clock in the afternoon had scarcely intercepted a few dazed mosquitos. This was the balance of the great costly operation: the fractured wings of insects and hundreds of local taunts.

After the Lopez Obrador supporter's speech, under high orders they took the bait and ordered that more than thirty trailers be sent in order to gather metallic fences and walls. They did not imagine then that what was said in the Plaza of the Constitution was a type of scheme meant to confuse and soften their monitoring work.

"What are you doing with your armored vehicles and your soldiers?," Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had said, but after six in the evening, while the long-winded speeches flowed in the legislative enclosure, sympathizers of the For the Good of All coalition orchestrated the assault.

It was not the thousands they had hoped for, but instead compact groups, armed with stones, woods, pipes, rods, and pieces of glass, trained for the confrontation. Some walked using Fray Servando and Congreso de la Unión Avenues, others using the crossing at Corregidora; others still using Eduardo Molina Avenue.

It was a synchronized, planned, symbolic strategy: within the Congress, the coordinator of the PRD Deputies inclined to the taking of the rostrum and outside, the shock groups, the most radical members of the PRD, were crowded in front of the barriers [maintaining] a rhythm of fire.

There were, among the protestors on Fray Servando Avenue, those who named themselves leaders of the Francisco Villa Popular Front and the Revolutionary Popular Front. Many, bats in hand, their faces covered and their slogans against Vicente Fox, [President of the Federal Electoral Institute] Luis Carlos Ugalde, and Felipe Calderon were hateful.

--"Fox is not passing through here, because we will kill him" one of the hooded protestors shouted.

There were those who, with aerosol cans, set fire to the cords which reinforced the barricades. Some loaded rocks to throw at the uniformed officers, who had by then crowded behind the fences.

With pipes and kicks, the protestors tried to bring down the obstacles.

--"What did Lopez Obrador not say about avoiding violence?"

--"This is no longer for anyone, it's getting out of control," said an infuriated panchovilla who said his name was Antonio Martinez.

The pushes and shoves were carried out against the reporters. And later they extended to other PRD members who did share the way of the flames. They had, for a few moments, maternal slaps and exchanges among the protestors themselves.

The scenes of blows and the clearing of the decks repeated itself at the Corregidora crossing, where the opening of holes was posted, and in the store at the center of the TAPO buses, where another smaller group of Lopez Obrador supporters had arrived with sticks and yellow flags.

Only the flight of Fox, who some were monitoring by radio, slowed down the fighting. "That the traitor has now gone" . . . That voice was enough so that the men with their faces covered with scarves left their stones and fled by the side streets, afraid of being apprehended.

Antonio Martinez, of the Front, gave the last blast and threatened: "We are not many, but we are f__k__s (Spanish: chingones) and we will return soon."

Nightfall surprised the police, still guarding their fences and their stamped insects . . . Minutes later: the trailers . . . And in a hurry the city returned to being free.
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Now we know what really happened.

First - thanks again for your efforts.

At this point it might just be time to admit that mexico was too far gone, and Fox was not willing to do a few simple things to make the grade. His state of the union memo sounds to me like an apology for not getting it right - almost "You won't have me to kick around any more".

He utterly miscalculated on immigration, hoping to carry the opposition by getting concessions from his friend from Texas. Instead, he ticked off more Americans than were ticked off before and allowed state agencies to plow into US politics, issue bogus special status cards, and call for demonstrations in US cities.

He should have used is relationship with GWB (also to blame) to actually try to slow the flood and substitute a process.
He should have done something to show current and potential illegals that there was hope IN mexico instead of making them an international political cause.
He should have done something to slow the drug traffic - some reform of the police and border governments.

All his other actions might have been just and admirable but none of them could possibly succeed inside of one term and the only way to make them succeed is to assure a similar administration to follow.

Right now he should be grabbing the wheel and driving this thing hard - not whimpering about mexicans being free and hiding from the leftists who think freedom means license.

Right now we should be locking down our border and making it known to the illegals already here that we won't stand for any more demonstrations, any more special status, or any more official intrusions. Same time, we should be offering (Calderon) support in carrying out real reforms - funded by a heavy tax on ALL funds transferred by mexicans living in the USA. (with thanks to American Express and Citibank)

"Helping mexico" should never have been interpreted as "allowing mexico".

PS: If Obradore - all bets are off, they'll implode.

"At this point it might just be time to admit that mexico was too far gone, and Fox was not willing to do a few simple things to make the grade. His state of the union memo sounds to me like an apology for not getting it right - almost "You won't have me to kick around any more". "

GDP up from -0.2% to 5.5%, inflation down from 6.3% to just over 3%, interest rates down, purchasing power of the peso up, and the national debt reduced from $50 billion U.S. to $40 billion U.S. The poverty rate, especially the rural poverty rate, declined as well. That is an astounding record of success the likes of which no Mexican President who has served since the 1950's (which is as far back as I've read the data) can boast. Fox was quite a success.

"He utterly miscalculated on immigration, hoping to carry the opposition by getting concessions from his friend from Texas. Instead, he ticked off more Americans than were ticked off before and allowed state agencies to plow into US politics, issue bogus special status cards, and call for demonstrations in US cities."

Fox did not miscalculate at all on immigration. And before you deal with this issue you must put yourself in his shoes. Immigrants from Mexico living in the U.S. were sending over $10 billion per year to Mexico, their second most important source of foreign exchange. Most of that money was going into northern Mexico, the home area of the PAN, his party. Fox had a very strong interest in maintaining that flow of money into his country and, unless he got something of value in exchange for reducing it, he had absolutely no incentive whatsoever to come to the table and deal. Do I wish he had dealt with us on immigration? Yes; it's a big problem in our country and I want it solved with Mexico's help. Do I blame Fox for pursuing the tact he did? Absolutely not; he only helped himself by guaranteeing something like $72 billion (I'm just averaging $15 billion per year, it's closer to $20 billion now) of direct Mexican-owned investment into the Mexican economy. The only cost to Fox for not dealing on illegal immigration was a drop in his popularity within the U.S. But Americans don't vote in Mexico, so that was really no cost at all. And given that the U.S. needs Mexican oil so very badly, he knew he could count on the issue not disrupting the official relationship. It was very smartly played on Fox's part. From his perspective, that is.

"He should have done something to show current and potential illegals that there was hope IN mexico instead of making them an international political cause."

Actually; this is what he has done. There is only one way to show Mexicans either living outside of the country because of scant opportunities at home or considering migrating for the same reason that there is a better choice in staying. And that is to turn the Mexican economy around and create new opportunities. The statistical data I cited above, which I linked to you in a past post, is real.

"He should have done something to slow the drug traffic - some reform of the police and border governments."

Fox has hit hard on the drug war. I posted an article a while back that illustrated the problem he faces on this. Fox has broken the largest of the drug cartels who were operating when he came into office, especially the Arellano-Felix gang, but the problem that creates is that several smaller gangs are standing by in the wings ready to jump in and fill the gap. There also has been a dichotomy between an important governmental reform Fox has implemented and its relevance to the drug war. One of the biggest sources of corruption in Mexican politics for years was that state and local governments were practically powerless in that they had little control over their budgets and the implementation of basic services. This led to national officials, and this was a prime source of bribery and graft under the PRI, practically forcing state and local government officials to "cut them in" for a share of appropriations doled out for local projects. Fox has not eliminated that entirely, but he has significantly empowered state and local governments to control a greater share of taxes and local projects than was the case in Mexico previously. But this has created something of a vacuum when it comes to enforcing the drug war as the newer and smaller operations come into their own.

There is also the reality that, no matter how much we Americans rail against Mexico for its inability to curtail the supply of drugs coming into this country, the drug economy, like every other economy, is driven by the forces of demand. And we Americans have been nothing short of complete failures in curtailing demand in this country. It ultimately comes down to the fact that so long as Americans are willing to pay $30+ billion a year for illegal drugs, that those drugs will make their way here.

"Right now he should be grabbing the wheel and driving this thing hard - not whimpering about mexicans being free and hiding from the leftists who think freedom means license."

You may be right on this, I really don't know. That is what's behind the question I asked at the beginning of this thread. Slowly but surely Fox and the PAN have gained in popularity as the PRD runs amok in its post-election rampage. I am sure the question is "just when will it be time to hit back?" And my guess is that Mexico needs to get past the official declaration of Calderon as the winner of the election before Fox can act, so that it will not appear that he is injecting himself into the electoral controversy.

One more thing. Take a look at the following image, taken from the Reforma newspaper online site. Fox's approval rating is at 68% right now (Sept. 1 data) and his overall rating (on a scale of 1 to 10) is a 7.1. Those are very good numbers and they say a lot about Fox's latitude for action should he decide to clamp down on the PRD. And I submit they say a lot about his political skills as well. There's a reason why the PRD hates him so much. He has very skillfully kept them from the President's chair. Not by fraud, as the PRD claims, but by carefully choosing his moments to hit, such as the videoscandals sting, which was just brilliant in my opinion, kicking the Venezuelan Ambassador out Mexico in a very public way for establishing ties with the PRD (among other things), which had the effect of making Lopez Obrador look like a Chavez lackey, and more. Old Vicente is really quite a player. He's pissed me off on occasion, but I know a pro when I see one.

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