Friday, January 27, 2006

Mexico's Next President?

Andrés Manuel López Obrador addressed a big, rambunctious crowd yesterday in Tijuana, speaking particularly to the issue of Mexican migration into the U.S. His argument--that Mexican economic growth and job creation will enable Mexicans to stay home, where they would prefer to be--isn't anything terribly new or special. But it isn't something Fox has been shouting about a lot, either (energetically committed as he has been to the belief that neo-liberalization will, someday, somehow, lead to such economic development in Mexico). And AMLO has an opinion about the recent surge of anti-immigration panic in the U.S. lately: "Our neighbors," he said, need to understand that nothing is going to be fixed by wall-building, Border Patrol increases, hard-line anti-immigrant legislation, or threats. Instead, all of these things will lead inevitably to more human-rights violations and strains between the two governments.

Sobre todo cuando el candidato presidencial de la alianza formada por los partidos de la Revolución Democrática (PRD), del Trabajo y Convergencia expuso los lineamientos de lo que será la relación del gobierno que espera encabezar con Washington, basada en compromisos conjuntos.

"Debe quedar claro que si no hay crecimiento de la economía y generación de empleos en México, no se podrá enfrentar el problema migratorio. También debe quedar claro a nuestros vecinos que nada se resolverá con la construcción de muros, ni con mayor patrullaje fronterizo, ni con leyes severas o con amenazas de mano dura".

Todas esas medidas, agregó, sólo provocarán más violaciones a los derechos humanos y más conflictos en la relación bilateral entre ambos gobiernos.

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