Earlier this week President Calderón appeared on the Charlie Rose Show. In his usual technocratic fashion, Calderón ticked off the security challenges posed by drug violence in Mexico, then detailed the countermeasures: taking on the criminals, building better law enforcement institutions, and addressing the socioeconomic roots of crime in Mexico. Also of interest, the president pointed out progress toward universal healthcare over the past decade; 95 million in Mexico now have healthcare, and universal care is expected by the end of Calderón’s term next year. This has me thinking about how Mexico will look in six or so years, with universal healthcare and an economy that is the second-largest in North America.
An article posted by BBC Mundo speculates that Chapo Guzman will fill bin Laden’s shoes as the world’s most wanted outlaw. Just as the United States has been prosecuting an ill-defined “war on terrorism,” the Mexican government has declared a “war on drugs”; bringing down kingpins like bin Laden and Guzman can reify the vagueness of the campaigns, and deliver huge political dividends.
President Obama was in El Paso, Texas, talking up the need for immigration reform in the United States, where he quipped about a border moat filled with alligators. Under Obama, the US has rounded up nearly one million immigrants and sent them back to Mexico and various Central American countries. Peeved Latino leaders in the United States are bandying the idea of a “Tequila Party”–akin to the Tea Party–to hold Democrats accountable to the constituency.
Carlos Slim is gaining more unwanted attention from Mexican lawmakers for the creeping reach of his oligopolies. Last month regulators slapped a $1 billion fine on Telcel, a division of Slim’s American Movil. Shares of America Movil duly dropped to their 52-week low. As the presidential election campaign of 2012 gains steam, Slim Shady seems likely to face prosecution by politicians of all stripes. Says Shannon O’Neil of the Council of Foreign Relations: “It seems taking on monopolies is a vote-getter.”
