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| Related Bio: | Pamela K. Starr |
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November 20, 2006
Council on Foreign Relations
-Read the press release in Spanish
PAN candidate Felipe Calderón was declared the victor of Mexico’s July presidential election, following weeks of disruptive protests and accusations of electoral fraud, and will formally take office on December 1. The new president inherits significant domestic policy challenges and a bumpy relationship with the United States. “How these problems are addressed during his six-year tenure will determine Mexico’s economic and political course well into the future,” says a new Council Special Report, recently updated to reflect the outcome of the July 2 election.
Stakes are high for the United States as well: a politically and economically stable Mexico is critical for finding a solution to the migration question, coordinating bilateral efforts to fight drug trafficking, enhancing the competitiveness of important sectors of the U.S. economy, and fostering U.S. security.
Calderón will face “many of the same domestic policy challenges as his predecessor—fiscal dependence on volatile petroleum revenues, enormous pension liabilities that expand with Mexico’s aging population, insufficient investment capital in the energy sector, declining global competitiveness, weak job creation and growth, corruption, inadequate rule of law, and increasing crime.” However, because of the electoral dispute and the new president’s limited mandate, the Calderón administration may struggle to rally support for the broad reforms Mexican society needs.
As the new Mexican president takes office, the United States must actively restore the U.S.-Mexican relationship. “Although the United States justifiably felt let down by Mexico’s delayed and tepid statements of sympathy after 9/11 and its lack of support for the Iraq war, U.S. officials seem to have underestimated the depth of Mexican disappointment at having fallen off the U.S. foreign policy agenda,” contends the report, Challenges for a Postelection Mexico: Issues for U.S. Policy, by the Eurasia Group’s Pamela K. Starr.
“The United States should take the lead in changing the tone of the relationship by reaching out to Mexico’s new president as a valued policy partner, and Mexico should reciprocate by thinking realistically about migration and attacking its pending domestic economic and security agenda,” writes Starr.
The imminent departure of President Vicente Fox offers an opportunity to “start fresh and bury the legacy of missed opportunities and bruised feelings of the past few years,” says the report. Starr argues that the United States should focus on three critical areas to improve the bilateral relationship:
Migration
North American Competitiveness
Security
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