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Vicente Fox
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This SourceVicente Fox Quesada (born July 2 1942) was the President of Mexico from 2000 to 2006. He is currently Co-President (with Pier Ferdinando Casini) of the Centrist Democratic International, an international organization of Christian Democratic political parties (which includes Mexico's National Action Party as a member).
Fox was elected President of Mexico in the 2000 presidential election, a historically significant election that made him the first president elected from an opposition party since Álvaro Obregón in 1920. The 2000 election was also significant because it was the first presidential election since the end of the Mexican Revolution to be generally considered competitive and fair. He was elected with 42 percent of the vote, marking the first time that the then-dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party had lost a presidential election.
After serving as president of Mexico for six years, President Fox returned to his home state of Guanajuato, where he resides with his wife and family. Since leaving the presidency, Vicente Fox has been involved in public speaking and the construction of the Vicente Fox Center of Studies, Library and Museum.
Private life
Early life and education
Vicente Fox was born in Mexico City on July 2 1942, the second of nine children. His father was José Luis Fox Pont, an American citizen and his mother was Mercedes Quesada Etxaide, a Basque immigrant from Donostia-San Sebastián. His paternal grandfather, José Luis Fox Flach, was born Joseph Louis Fuchs in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, son of German Catholic immigrants Louis Fuchs and Catherina Elisabetha Flach.It was believed that Vicente Fox's grandfather was of Irish descent, but the Cincinnati Federal Census records (1850, 1860) show that he was of German descent. The Fuchs ('fox' in German) family changed the spelling of their last name to Fox after 1870. In 1890, Joseph L. Fox worked as a shipping clerk for Emerson & Fisher, the carriage makers. Given the company's failure, and Cincinnati's economic stagnation, Joseph emigrated in 1898 to the nearest region that welcomed Catholic immigrants, Mexico, and changed the spelling of his name to José Luis Fox Flach. In 1915 he purchased a ranch in San Francisco del Rincón in Guanajuato, since then the Fox family seat.
Fox spent his childhood and adolescence at the family ranch. He moved back to Mexico City to attend the Universidad Iberoamericana where he pursued a business degree until 1964 and obtained a diploma in Top Management Skills from the Business School of Harvard University.
President of Coca-Cola Company
In 1964, he went to work for The Coca-Cola Company where he started as a route supervisor and drove a delivery truck. He quickly rose in the company to become supervisor of Coca-Cola's operations in Mexico, and later in all of Latin America. As President of Coca Cola Mexico, Vicente Fox helped out Coca-Cola as Mexico's top-selling soft drink, increasing Coca-Cola's sales by almost 50%.
Marriage
Vicente Fox married a receptionist at Coca-Cola, Lilian de la Concha. They adopted four children, Ana Cristina, Vicente, Paulina and Rodrigo. In 1990, after 20 years of marriage, Lilian filed for divorce.Vicente Fox married for the second time while in office. He married Marta Sahagún Jiménez (until then his spokesperson) on July 2 2001, the first anniversary of his presidential election and his 59th birthday. For both, this was their second marriage.
Early political career
After retiring from Coca-Cola, Vicente Fox began to participate in various public activities in Guanajuato, where he created the Patronato de la Casa Cuna Amigo Daniel, an orphanage. He was president of Patronato Loyola, a sponsor of the León campus of the Universidad Iberoamericana and the Lux Institute.With the support of Manuel Clouthier, Vicente Fox joined the PAN on March 1 1988. That same year he ran for and was elected as a member of the congress representing the III Federal District in Guanajuato.
Governor of Guanajuato
After serving in the Chamber of Deputies, Fox returned to Guanajuato to seek the governorship. In 1991, he sought the position of governor of Guanajuato but lost to Ramón Aguirre Velázquez of the PRI. Following the election, local discontent was so great that the state Congress appointed Carlos Medina Plasencia of the National Action Party (PAN) as interim governor. Four years later, Fox decided to run again and was elected governor with a large margin at the age of 52. According to Mexico’s Federal Electoral Institute, the result was 58% for Fox, to 32% for the candidate of the PRI.Since Vicente Fox was elected governor of Guanajuato, the state continues to be governed by candidates of Fox’s party, the PAN.
Campaign for President
In 2000, Vicente Fox decided to run for President of Mexico. In spite of opposition within his party, Fox secured his candidacy representing the Alliance for Change, a political coalition formed by the National Action Party and the Ecological Green Party of Mexico. During the course of his campaign a presidential debate was organized. There was a disagreement between the three main contenders, Fox, Francisco Labastida of the PRI and Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas of the PRD, and some of the arguments were broadcast on national television, notably the one on whether the debate should be held that same day or the following Friday. For minutes, Fox kept repeating the word "Hoy" meaning "today", originating the famous phrase "hoy, hoy, hoy!". The other candidates decided to postpone the debate, but Fox used that day's airtime anyway. At first the action brought criticism to Fox, but it soon backfired against his opponents when Fox started using his new phrase to gain new supporters as he campaigned for a better future "today". He claimed that his opponents wanted to leave everything for tomorrow, including Mexico's problems.During the presidential debate Francisco Labastida, his main opponent, claimed in a nationally televised debate that Vicente Fox had repeatedly called him a "sissy" and a "cross-dresser".
His campaign slogans were "Ya!" ("Right now!"), "Hoy, hoy, hoy!" ("Today, today, today!"), "Ya ganamos" ("We won" or "We've already won") and "Vota Alianza por el Cambio" meaning "Vote for Alliance for Change".
Amigos de Fox
Amigos de Fox ("Friends of Fox") was a non-profit fund raising group that was instrumental in getting Vicente Fox elected President of Mexico. The phrase was also used as a campaign slogan referring to the millions of people supporting Fox in the 2000 presidential elections.In 2003, money-laundering charges were lodged against the fund raising group, but were dropped a fortnight before the July 2003 mid-term elections.
Election results
On July 2 2000, the day of his 58th birthday, Vicente Fox won the presidential election with 43% (15,989,636 votes) of the popular vote, followed by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate Francisco Labastida with 36% (13,579,718 votes), and Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) with 17% (6,256,780 votes). Vicente Fox declared victory that same night, a victory which was ratified by President Zedillo. After the final results were announced, President-elect Vicente Fox met with thousands of supports at the Angel of Independence monument in Mexico City, to address his supporters and celebrate his victory. His opponents conceded the election later that night.
President-elect Vicente Fox received an enormous amount of media coverage, as well as many congratulating messages and phone calls from world leaders including the President of the United States at the time, Bill Clinton.
Fox took office as president on December 1, 2000 marking the first time in Mexico's history that an incumbent government peacefully surrendered power to an elected member of the opposition.
Fox administration
Cabinet
In contrast with his predecessors, President Fox chose the members of his cabinet through head hunters. At the beginning of his term, Fox dubbed his Cabinet as "el gabinetazo" ("the Super Cabinet"), as a way to recognize the capacity of the Cabinet members. Fox had originally stated that the Cabinet chosen at the beginning of his term would last 6 years, throughout his term, however, this did not happen.. One of the members of his cabinet was Felipe Calderón Hinojosa (subsequently elected President of Mexico), who served as Secretary of Energy for eight months, and resigned under pressure for his Presidential ambitions, when competing for the nomination of his party against Secretary of the Interior, Santiago Creel.
Economy
Vicente Fox was one of the few Presidents to avoid a major economic upheaval during office, however economy grew at the slowest pace in history, second only to the de la Madrid administration. During the three decades before Fox was elected, Mexico experienced some level of economic devaluations at the end of three of the four presidential terms from 1970 to 1994, until Ernesto Zedillo who let the peso-dollar parity float at the beginning of his term (1994-2000). Zedillo passed the office to Fox without any economic urgency. In 2006, Vicente Fox, like Zedillo did in 2000, left the office to his successor without any significant currency devaluation.According to Banco de México (Mexico's Central Bank), inflation rates during Fox's term went from 11%, in January 2000, at the beginning of his term, to 4.05% on December 2006, at the end of his term. Throughout most of Fox's term, inflation was consistently below 6%, mostly around 4.5%. According to the Central Bank, inflation hadn't been as low as during Fox's term since before 1973 (the lowest inflation record between January 1973 and December of 1999 was above 6%, most frequently going in double, sometimes triple-digits). Thanks to the Fox government's disciplined spending, Mexico created an estimated 1 million new jobs in 2006, a record.
GDP growth dropped from an average of 5.1% in the Zedillo administration to the lowest in a decade, an average of 2.2% during Fox's administration. According to Fox's first government report address (equivalent to the state of the union address in the United States), some sectors affected were mining ((-1.5% growth), manufacturing (-2.28% growth), and construction (-5.36%). At the same time the following sectors did not decrease: electricity, gas and water (1.76% growth), services (2.65%).
Fox's cabinet blamed the low growth on the slow-down of the Economy of the United States, but as this country started growing again in 2002-2003 Mexico did not grow at the same pace and was surpassed by China as the second import partner of the United States. Fox had promised growth of 7% during his campaign and blamed Congress for the low economic growth but his administration had foreseen growth of 3.4% even without the approval of structural reforms, especially fiscal reforms.
Tax revenue as a proportion of GDP fell from 10.6% at the beginning of his administration to 9.7% at the end of his term. In contrast with previous administrations, debt as a proportion of GDP did not grow during Fox's term.
Minimum wages during Fox's administration increased at a nominal rate of 34% from $35.12 pesos per day in January 2000 to $47.05 in December 2006. However, when translated to Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), real wages during Fox decreased 3.8%, from $80.27 PPP pesos in January 2000, to $77.07 PPP pesos in December 2006. According to Banco de México, this compares favorably to previous administrations, for wages had decreased by 305% from $296.22 PPP pesos per day in January 1976, to $73.91 PPP pesos per day on December of 1999. Minimum wages had decreased, in real terms, an average of 38% per Presidential administration from 1976 to 2000.
During Vicente Fox's term, the number of registered taxpayers grew by 35%. According to data by the Tributary Administration Service, the main driver behind this increase was growth in salary-based workers, starting in 2004, and that amounted to a 217% rate of growth compared to 2000 for this group of taxpayers. The more than 12 million salary-based workers who are registered to pay tax constitute 56% of the taxpaying base.
Job creation stalled during the first four years of Fox's administration. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit not only jobs were not created from 2000-2004 but the number of street vendors increased 40%. This workforce does not pay income or sales tax and significant minority of it participates on illicit activities such as smuggling of foreign goods and piracy. The latter grew during Fox's term to a multi-billion industry that produces 8 billion dollars a year. Net sales of the clothing industry in Mexico is calculated at approximately 1,500 million dollars, of which 910 million dollars are from clothing smuggled into the country.
The number of registered workers afiliated to the Mexican Social Security Institute decreased from 11,026,370 in December 2000 to 10,881,160. Unemployment increased from 2.7% in 2002 to 3.2 in 2003, and the number of non-payroll workers increased to 20 million people or roughly half of the population able to work. Jobs in maquiladoras decreased by 30%
Housing was among Vicente Fox's top priorities. By 2006, the Infonavit, the federal fund for workers' housing, had 60% "market share" in the mortgage business, granting 435,000 credits a year, with an expected yearly growth of 24%.
During Vicente Fox's presidency, the Mexican Stock Exchange reached record highs throughout his term. The record highs were caused by a better economic outlook throughout his term, larger international reserves, and a better debt rating that led to lower interest rates.
In 2002, Mexico reached a GDP per capita of 9,381 dollars per year and thus became a medium-high income country. Five years later, Mexico went from beneficiary to full contributor of the United Nations Development Program.
Mexico suffered a drop in competitiveness during Fox's administration. In 2006, Mexico took the 56th place of 60 countries in the World Competitiveness Yearbook due to poor infrastructure and ease of doing business as well as the inability of reducing manufacturing costs such as electricity.. Regrettably the large investment in infrastructure in the country during his presidency did not translate in lower costs for manufacturers. The efforts of Fox's government did not produce the expected results because of a lack of coordination between government bodies. To address this in 2004, Fox launched an Economic Policy for Competitivity ("Política Económica para la Competitividad" or PEC) however, improvement in this area is not expected until after the year 2013.
Human Development
| Human Development Index (HDI) in Mexico | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | HDI1 | Annual increase (%) |
| 1975 | 0.689 | 1.335 |
| 1985 | 0.755 | 0.544 |
| 1990 | 0.764 | 0.238 |
| 1995 | 0.782 | 0.471 |
| 2000 | 0.809 | 0.206 |
| 2003 | 0.814 | |
| 1 Source: United Nations Development Programme, 2005 Human Development Reports | ||
| Human Development Index (HDI) in Latin America (2003) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Country | HDI | 2000-2003 increase (%) |
| Argentina | 0.863 | 0.82 |
| Chile | 0.854 | 1.30 |
| Uruguay | 0.840 | — |
| Costa Rica | 0.838 | 0.72 |
| Cuba | 0.817 | — |
| Mexico | 0.814 | 0.62 |
| Panamá | 0.804 | 1.26 |
| Venezuela | 0.772 | 0 |
| 1 Source: United Nations Development Programme, 2005 Human Development Reports | ||
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education, and standard of living for countries worldwide. The table on the right shows the Human Development Index (HDI) of Mexico from 1975 to 2003 along with yearly percentage increases.
HDI improved in the first three years of the Fox administration 0.206% annually, the lowest increase in almost three decades. During the last year of the Zedillo administration Mexico reached for the first time in history, a HDI of 0.8 which is considered to represent high development..
In addition, it is important to note that during the first three years of the presidency of Vicente Fox, many countries such as Canada, France and Great Britain, reported low increases and even some decreases while countries like Cuba surpassed Mexico at 0.817 as well as Costa Rica with a 0.838 HDI and Argentina with a 0.863 HDI, Brazil's HDI increased 1.17% from 2000 to 2003 while Mexico's HDI only increased 0.62% from 2000 to 2003.
Relations with Congress
In his inaugural speech, Vicente Fox said that with his Presidency started a new era of relations between the three political powers. "The President will propose, and the Congress will dispose", he said. This implied that, contrary to what was perceived of Presidents before him, Fox would respect the separation of powers and negotiate with Congress any reform that he wished to undertake.The first major controversy between Fox and Congress occurred during the discussion of a comprehensive tax reform that included a value added tax of 15% on all products, including food and medicine, to replace the complex system of discretionary exceptions that still exists today. Congress rejected the reform as proposed by Fox.
From then on, Fox's term was characterized by the strained relation between the Legislative and the Executive. Lawmakers from the opposition parties admitted they had a hard time dealing with Fox, while lawmakers from Fox's party claimed that there were "legislative excesses".
In his last annual state of the union address in September 2006, President Fox was prevented by leftist lawmakers from delivering his speech. He became the first president to not read his report before Congress and instead gave a televised address to the nation.
Foreign policy
Before Vicente Fox, Mexico had a foreign policy "doctrine" known as the Estrada Doctrine, so named after its creator, Genaro Estrada (Secretary of Foreign Affairs during the Presidency of Pascual Ortiz Rubio). The Estrada Doctrine was a foreign policy directorate that favored an enclosed view of sovereignty. It claimed that foreign governments should not judge, for good or bad, governments or changes in governments in other nations, because it would imply a breach of their sovereignty.President Fox appointed Jorge Castañeda to be his Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Castañeda immediately broke with the Estrada Doctrine, promoting what was called by critics the Castañeda Doctrine. The new foreign policy called for an openness and an acceptance of criticism from the international community, and the increase of national involvement in Foreign Affairs.
During Fox's term, Mexico actively sought (and gained) a temporary seat on the UN Security Council.. However, Luis Ernesto Derbez, Fox's Secretary of Foreign Affairs after Castañeda, unsuccessfully ran for the position of Secretary General of the Organization of American States, losing to Chilean José Miguel Insulza.
Mexico hosted several international summits during Fox's administration. In the Monterrey Summit of 2001, which ended in the adoption of the Monterrey Consensus, President Fox and his Foreign Relations cabinet were protagonists of one of the most serious diplomatic scandals of his administration. For the Summit, many heads of State were invited to the International Conference on Financing for Development. However, in the early stages of the meeting Cuban President Fidel Castro surprisingly stood and said that he was leaving the city because of a "a special situation created by my participation in this Summit". Fox repeatedly denied Castro's allegations that he was asked to leave the summit, as per the U.S. request. A few days after the incident, a recorded phone call between Fox and Castro where the Mexican president asks Castro to leave before George Bush arrived at the summit was leaked to the press..
Relations with the United States
In the opinion of editorialists in the media and think tanks like COHA, the Castañeda Doctrine was "overtly submissive" to the United States. COHA's opinion was based on Mexico's support of Guatemala for a seat in the UN Security council, instead of supporting Venezuela, the contending candidate for the seat. Andrés Manuel López Obrador criticized the "Castañeda Doctrine", saying that Mexico should not "get involved in the internal lives of other people, because we do not want other people involved in our internal lives". Indeed, the new foreign policy doctrine openly invited other nations to scrutinize Mexican internal affairs, in contrast with the previously prevalent Estrada Doctrine, which was criticized as an excuse to negate foreign criticism on the previous establishment. Finally, José Galán, an editorialist in La Jornada, accused the Fox administration of not doing enough to stop border violence against Mexican nationals. However, during the country's appointment to the UN Security Council, Mexico did not support the U.S. lead invasion of Iraq, damaging US-Mexico relations.
During Fox's administration, Mexico pushed negotiations for a "comprehensive immigration reform" that addressed the problem of illegal immigration to the United States. The issue has been called "The Whole Enchilada" by Fox's administration, and states that "immigration reform in the United States should address mutual border problems, the rights of undocumented immigrants, and the development of regions in Mexico that 'expel' migrants".. However, according to former U.S. ambassador to Mexico Jeffrey Davidow, no formal negotiations occurred between the parties, all discussions on the subject were informal.
The immigration reform that Fox hoped to achieve included a Guest Worker Plan, "The best thing that can happen to both our countries is to have an orderly flow, a controlled flow, of migration to the United States".This reform was supported by president Bush and approved by the U.S. Senate, however, the bill was rejected by the House of Representatives. According to the Washington Post, the hopes for the approval of the bill are lower than ever and have been complicated by the recent approval of the SBI (Secure Border Initiative), a bill that includes building a 700 mile triple fence between the U.S. and Mexico.
During Fox's presidency the net migration rate in Mexico increased 152% from -2.84 migrants per 1,000 habitants in 2000 to -4.32 in 2006; comparably in the same period the population growth decreased 35% from 1.57% to 1.16%. Fox, who was said to be "proud" of Mexican immigrants in the U.S. has acknowledged the importance of remittances by both legal and illegal Mexican workers in the U.S. (now the #1 source of revenue for the country)'; sparking criticism from U.S. conservatives that claim that Mexico advocates soft migration policies to continue the influx of foreign generated capital instead of promoting a healthier economy that offers better opportunities to Mexicans slowing migration to the US
Relations with Latin American countries
Fox created a plan to develop Central America, called the Plan Puebla Panama. He has been criticized for his support of it.Vicente Fox had several controversies with Latin American countries such as with president of Cuba, Fidel Castro after the Monterrey Summit as well as the president of Argentina, Néstor Kirchner related to the FTAA during the 2005 Mar del Plata Summit of the Americas, and with Ricardo Lagos, then President of Chile regarding the new OAS Secretary General election, 2005 details and president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, about his presumed support for the U.S. president George W. Bush.
2005 Summit at Mar del Plata
The Fourth Summit of the Americas took place on November 4th and the 5th in Mar del Plata, Argentina. Fox assisted with the other 33 presidents of countries in the Americas. Fox would attempt to reinitiate talks of support for the creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). However, discussion on the FTAA was not in the agenda of the Summit.Upon his arrival to Mar del Plata, Hugo Chávez, president of Venezuela, declared:
Today the FTAA is dead and we are going to bury it here. We are here to change the course of history.
Fox responded that the FTAA could be created with all of the countries in the Americas with the exception of Venezuela or the countries of the Mercosur.
Marco Aurelio Garcia, one of the closest advisers to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil, declared that Fox carried himself with haste in supporting the FTAA. Garcia declared that Fox's comment that the FTAA would be created with or without the Mercosur angered many. Fox did not applaud after Néstor Kirchner's presentation at the Summit, and when Fox attempted to bring the issue of the FTAA Kirchner that the FTAA was not the topic at hand at the Summit. Fox responded to the press declaring that Kirchner was more concerned with pleasing people in his country than the success of the Summit. Kirchner replied that Fox should attend to the Mexicans because it was the Argentine people who voted for him. The parliamentary groups of the PAN, PRI, PRD and PVEM in the Senate approved a motion to express their disillusionment about the performance of Fox and Derbez, his Secretary of Foreign Affairs, at the Summit
Education, science, and technology
According to René Drucker, coordinator of basic science research for UNAM, "no other government in recent history has neglected research in the basic sciences as Fox's". Fox's plan for the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, CONACYT, was that by 2006 this organization would receive 1% of the GDP, however the budget for this organization for FY 2006 was 0.33% of the GDP.. Federal Government investment on Research and development in 2004 was 0.41% in Mexico versus 0.95% in Brazil and 0.6% in Chile.José Vasconcelos Library
The José Vasconcelos Library, labeled by the press as the "Megabiblioteca" ("megalibrary"), is considered the largest investment in infrastructure in the Fox administration. The library is spread on 38,000 square meters and had an initial planned cost of 954 million pesos (roughly 98 million dollars).Fox inaugurated the Library May 16, 2006 declaring that this is one of the most advanced constructions of the 21st century, and it would be spoken of throughout the world. This inauguration took place a week before the deadline the president had to promote his accomplishments before the 2006 presidential election
The Library had to be closed down in March 2007 because of defects of construction. The Superior Auditor of the Federation detected 36 irregularities in its construction and issued 13 motions of responsibility for public servants of the federal government. Among the irregularities found was the misplacement of marble blocks at a cost of 15 million pesos (roughly 1.4 million dollars).
During the Calderón administration efforts to restore it continued with a further investment of 32 million pesos (roughly 3 million dollars)
2006 presidential election
Fox openly expressed his support to Santiago Creel to become the candidate of the PAN in the 2006. When Felipe Calderón was chosen as a candidate, Fox expressed his support to him and his dislike towards his opponent populist Andrés Manuel López Obrador prior to and during the 2006 elections. On Chapter 14 of Luis Mandoki's Who is Mr. López? documentary titled "Foxilandia Alfonso Durazo, Fox's former personal secretary, declared that no previous President was ever as active campaigning for candidates of his own party as was Fox. After Calderón's win, the elections were contested by López Obrador. The Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Power of the Federation declared the election to be clean but highlighted Fox's influence in it, declaring that it was the greatest irregularity in the election. Alfonsina Bertha Navarro, minister of the Electoral Tribunal, declared:Let's remember that he made indirect or metaphoric comments that affected the competing political positions in the election, and even made explicit mentions related to the process; an interference that constitutes the greatest irregularity detected during the development of the process|Alfonsina Bertha Navarro, minister of the Electoral Tribunal
In August 2006, El Universal polled 600 people in Mexico City, where López Obrador served as Head of Government from 2000 to 2005, and 59% believed that the 2006 elections were fraudulent and 63% believed votes should have been recounted. In February 2007, Fox declared about the desafuero process of López Obrador:
I had to retreat and lost. But 18 months later, I got even when my candidate won.|Vicente Fox, on the desafuero process of López Obrador
Texcoco and San Salvador Atenco
In 2001, Fox announced the construction of a 2.3 billion dollar international airport in the municipalities of Texcoco and San Salvador Atenco in the State of México to relieve congestion at the overcrowded Mexico City airport, the busiest in Latin America. This new airport would bring thousands of new jobs to an area ravaged by extreme poverty..The proposed airport plan would relocate 4,375 families and convert 5,000 hectares of farmland. Peasants from these areas resisted relocation and formed the Community Front in Defense of Land in 2002. Soon the protests turned violent and protesters held hostages and state forces had to be sent to negotiate their release, while Fox announced no change in plans had been considered. After the federal government's failure to negotiate with the farmers the plans for the new airport had to be canceled. The protesters, many of which wore black ski mask made famous by rebels in Chiapas became instant heroes to poor farmers nationwide. while journalists, like Sergio Sarmiento called this issue "the biggest failure" of Fox's tenure and declared:
The precedent is terrible. Never before has the government so openly promoted the use of violence to resolve conflicts
This is in spite of the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre. Jorge Montaño, a former Mexican ambassador to the United States considered Fox was too "naive" to think these farmers would easily give up their lands and that his government should have taken more time negotiating with the farmers of Atenco instead of simply sending out engineers to measure runways and calculate flight paths. Montaño also declared that the compensation these farmers were offered were the minimum allowed under the law (3,000 pesos an acre, roughly 275 US dollars) before raising the offer to 21,000 pesos an acre (1,900 US dollars).
After the cancellation, 76% of Mexicans polled thought more unrest would follow the president during his term.
In May 2006, a group of flower vendors was being relocated from a market of Texcoco, according to a plan of the PRD-led municipal government. The group refused to leave and asked the assistance of the Community Front in Defense of the Land who confronted the police department of Texcoco with machetes. The situation escalated and police officers were held hostage by the protestors. State and federal forces were sent to the site. According to municipal government servants the protesters have felt invincible since the airport incident. The confrontation resulted in two deaths and dozens of injuries. On November 9 of the same year, the Attorney General's office admitted to torture and sexual abuse against the protesters.
Fox blamed the Atenco group, lead by Ignacio Valle, for the incident and ordered his arrest calling the group an "insult to society" In October 2006, two months before leaving office, Fox declared that the social conflicts of Atenco and Chiapas were solved and Oaxaca would be solved before his successor took office
Congressional investigations
Congress has opened two investigations but has failed to produce evidence to prosecute the Bribiescas. During one of the investigations Fox called the deputies "delinquents". A third congressional investigation was announced in May 2007.Controversial comments
- In May 2005, a controversy arose over comments Fox made during a meeting with Texas businesspeople in which he said, "There is no doubt that Mexicans, filled with dignity, willingness and ability to work, are doing jobs that not even blacks want to do there in the United States". This angered many African-Americans in the United States, prompting many black leaders to demand an apology from Fox. The Reverend Al Sharpton requested a formal apology from Fox to the African-American community and called for an economic boycott of Mexican products until an apology was received; he and many African-Americans felt that Fox's comments were insensitive and racist. The Reverend Jesse Jackson, during a news conference concerning Fox's statement about African-Americans, said that he felt that the comments were, "unwitting, unnecessary and inappropriate" and added that "[Fox's] statement had the impact of being inciting and divisive".
- Fox was also known to have misspoken the name of Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges as "José Luis Borgués" in the Royal Congress of the Spanish Language. This error sparked accusations of an "uncultured" President.
- In 2006 after Evo Morales refusal to sell natural gas to willing buyers. Fox said, "Well, they'll either have to consume it all themselves or they're going to have to eat it.
- In yet another controversial move he decided to cancel the parade commemorating the 96th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution to take place November 20, arguing that it's an obsolete celebration in which nobody wants to participate anymore. Some analysts consider that this is a response to Andrés Manuel López Obrador's alternative presidency assuming to take place the same day. Criticism changes regarding the different sources: while some consider it a smart decision, others view it as a sign of political weakness.
- In November 2006, the TV network Telemundo released a video recording previous to an interview with President Fox where he states: "Ya hoy hablo libre, ya digo cualquier tontería, ya no importa, ya total, yo ya me voy", which means "I can speak freely. Now I can say any stupidity. It doesn't matter. Anyway, I'm already leaving". Then, during the interview he talked about the violent situation in Oaxaca. The President's office complained about the release of this images and said he was not aware of the camera and microphones being turned on. News agency EFE accused Telemundo of acting unethically, for the video is their intellectual property.
- In a lecture in the United States, in which he was a keynote speaker, he identified writer Mario Vargas Llosa as a Nobel laureated Colombian, when he is Peruvian (Spanish by naturalization) and not a Nobel Prize winner.
Public image
During his campaign for president, Vicente Fox became well know for his unique cowboy style and popular charisma. With his trademark boots and “Fox” belt bucket, the president's personal style closely resembled that of many stereotypical "Mexicans". A gifted speaker, Fox usually gathered big crowds throughout his six years as president.
At six foot five, President Fox easily stood out in most crowds, and is believed to be one of the tallest presidents in Mexican history. After his inauguration, President Fox usually only wore suits for formal occasions, opting to wear his signature boots and jeans throughout his many visits around Mexico.
When President Fox welcomed U.S. President George W.Bush to his ranch in Guanajuato, both presidents were wearing Fox’s signature black cowboy boots, prompting the Wall Street Journal to call it “The Boot Summit”.
Post-presidential life
On December 1, 2006, Felipe Calderón, Fox’s former secretary of energy, took office as the President of Mexico. On inauguration day, President Fox handed the presidency of the country to his successor in the middle of a huge controversy due to the razor thin difference in the presidential elections. Although Fox had promised a one year stand of silence, he quickly changed his mind and began addressing reporters a few days later.
Public speaking
According to Marion Lloyd of the San Antonio Express-News, President Fox has never been fond of keeping traditions. Vicente Fox's broken tradition is staying visible after his Presidency. Unlike US Presidents, Mexican presidents usually fade from public view or disappear into exile, leaving the stage to their successor. This tradition was started when President Lázaro Cárdenas had former president Plutarco Elías Calles escorted out the country for attempting to influence his presidency, and ended with President Fox.After leaving office in December 2006, Fox has maintained himself in the public eye by speaking in countries such as Nigeria, Canada and the United States about topics such as the controversial 2006 election and the Iraq war. In Mexico, Fox's busy post-presidency has caused much criticism. Nevertheless, Fox states, "There is no reason to hold to the anti-democratic rules of those who still live in the authoritarian past…now that Mexico is a democracy, every citizen has the right to express himself, even a former president."
In addition, President Fox has expressed interest in campaigning for PAN candidates in future Mexican elections, an action that would make him the first former president in many decades to do so. Given that President Fox is still well-liked and left office with approval ratings looming 70%, many in Mexico are wondering if his support can get candidates elected.
Autobiography
Fox's autobiography, entitled Revolution of Hope: The Life, Faith and Dreams of a Mexican President, was released in September 2007, only in English, and only in the United States. To promote its release, Fox toured many U.S. cities to do book-signings and interviews with U.S. media. During his tour, however, he faced protests from Mexican immigrants who accused him of illicit enrichment and forcing them to find jobs in the United States. Fox remained oblivious to this. He faced the subject several times during interviews, such as the one held with Fox news's Bill O'Reilly, who questioned him hardly about the migration problem between Mexico and the United States. Finally, during an interview with Telemundo's Rubén Luengas, Fox walked out of the studio when asked about the illicit enrichment accusations he faces in Mexico, calling the interviewer 'liar', 'vulgar', and 'stupid'. Upon the book's release, many were surprised to read several excerpts wherein Fox was highly critical of United States' President, George W. Bush, considered by many to be a close friend of Fox's. For example, Fox wrote that Bush was "the cockiest guy I have ever met in my life," and claimed that he was surprised that Bush had ever made it to the White House. Later, in an interview with Larry King, Fox explained that this was a misunderstanding; what he meant by calling George W. Bush 'cocky' was to say he was 'confident'.Fox Center of Studies, Library and Museum
On January 12, 2007, over a month after he left office, Vicente Fox announced the construction of a center of studies, library and museum that has been labeled by the US press as Mexico's First Presidential Library.The project will be a library, museum, a "center for the advancement of democracy", a study center, and a hotel, and it will be completely privately funded. It is expected to be a genuine U.S. style presidential library. It will be built in his home state of Guanajuato, in his home town of San Francisco del Rincón.While museums are abundant throughout the country, it has nothing comparable to a presidential library where personal documents, records, and gifts amassed by a country’s leader are opened to the public. Fox’s library will be modeled after the Bill Clinton Library in Little Rock, Arkansas, which, according to the former President, will allow Mexicans to enjoy, for the first time in Mexico’s history, the liberty to review the documents, images and records that made up his six years as president.
According to the official website, the construction of the Center is in progress and advancing. Final completion of the library is expected by late 2007.
Centrist Democratic International
On September 20, 2007, Fox was elected Co-President (along with the re-elected Pier Ferdinando Casini) of the Centrist Democratic International at its leader's meeting in Rome. The CDI is the international organization of political parties that counts Fox's party, the National Action Party, as a member.Statue controversy
In October 2007, an announcement was made in the municipality of Boca del Río, Veracruz, that a 3 meter (10 ft) statue of Vicente Fox was to be erected to honor the former president. This aroused much criticism from the opposition Party of the Democratic Revolution and Mexican media towards Boca del Río's mayor, who is affiliated with the National Action Party, of which Fox is also a member.The statue was put in place amidst protests on the dawn of October 13, 2007. The inauguration was to have been held on October 14, 2007. Some hours after the installation, however, a crowd of about 100 people brought the statue down with a rope, damaging it. The statue was later put back in place for the inauguration, then taken away for repairs.
PAN members accused Veracruz's governor, Fidel Herrera Beltrán, of ordering the attack on the statue, while Fox called him "intolerant". Some sources in the media considered that the installation of the statue was inappropriate, since former President Fox was facing allegations relating to an illicit enrichment scandal.
Many of the protesters were members of the centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which governed Mexico for much of the 20th century, until Fox (of the conservative National Action Party [PAN]) won the 2000 presidential election, ousting the PRI from power.
Illicit enrichment accusations
After the publication of an interview with pictures Fox's ranch on social magazine Quién, criticism of Fox's wealth increase during his administration spiked. Later into 2007 accusations formalized into a congressional investigation with Lino Korrodi's evidence at the center. No results have been produced from the investigation.Gallery
See also
- List of Presidents of Mexico
- National Action Party (Mexico)
- Mexican general election, 2000
- Foxilandia
Notes
External links
- Vicente Fox website during his Presidency
- Vicente Fox Museum and Library
- Extended bio and presidential tenure, by CIDOB Foundation
- Vicente Fox Interview on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos
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