Mexico's Fox, seen as a fallen hero of democracy

President Vicente Fox, once known as a hero of democracy for ending 71 years of one-party rule, may stain his legacy by trying to destroy the presidential hopes of Mexico's most popular politician.

The conservative rancher and former Coca-Cola executive was elected in 2000 promising a new era after the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, used vote rigging and corruption to hold on to power for decades.

But some historians and other observers say Fox has betrayed his principles by supporting a drive to oust Mexico City's leftist mayor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, from the 2006 presidential race with a questionable legal case.

"This doesn't seem consistent with what Fox supposedly stands for," said Nicolas Shumway, head of Latin American studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

link

i like fox -- but power is a mighty siren.

his country is pathetic.

1 out of 10 Mexicans now live in the US.

What has he done for his countrymen to improve their living conditions?

Mexicans that left Mexico sent money home to mama and mama saved the money and bought the restaurant that employs some of the Mexican folks that did not move into those jobs vacated by the folks who left for the US.;-)

Migrant earnings sent home critical to Mexico
snip-----
According to figures released in mid-September by the Banco de México (BM), the nation’s central bank, remittances sent home by workers totaled US$6.135 billion for the first six months of 2003, an increase of 29.1 percent over the same period of 2002. Last year the remittances, that include funds sent by wire or bank transfers, checks, money orders and cash, reached an all-time high of US$9.81 billion. (Some analysts estimate that returning or visiting Mexicans carried an additional US$3 to US$4 billion home.)

At the bank-recorded levels, “family member remittances” are now greater than Mexico’s receipts from direct foreign investments and tourism. In other words, according to the central bank the only foreign income source greater than the expatriate remittances is revenue from crude oil exports.
snip---
The report also states: “The recent evolution of family member remittances to Mexico forecasts that they will continue to grow in the midterm at an average annual rate of 9.8 percent between 2004 and 2010….” Ixe also anticipates a continuing demand for Mexican workers in the U.S.A. “As such, it does not appear that the number of Mexican migrants going to the U.S.A. will decrease significantly in the coming years, so the flow of dollars into Mexico by way of family member remittances will be more and more important.”

To further demonstrate just how important the remittances are, the analysts conclude: "Thus, by the end of 2010 family member remittances could equal receipts from crude oil exports."

http://www.mexidata.info/id60.html

Wily bunch, those Mexican folks.

Most people do not choose to voluntarily leave their homes and families and move to another country to work as a slave (in practical terms), if they have other means of supporting their families at their disposal.

Blaming the victim is allways so very quaint.

"Blaming the victim is always so very quaint."

I am going to be nice and not respond to that; I live in Mexico, but I gotta tell you, that statement will have my Mexican friends helplessly rolling on the floor of the cantina when I tell them.

Pretty damn sad, I say.

According to Lou Dobbs, remittances home to Mexico from the US have now overtaken oil revenues as the #1 source of Mexico's income.

The US loses billions from our economy, & Fox uses the US as a pressure valve.

And Mexicans? Shouldn't they have a chance at a decent wage & life in Mexico?

and against ANYONE WHO HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH BUSH!

They'll call in Rove to manage the election process. And then Rove really will feel her rules the world. Neocons are just a vehicle for the real god.