A Talk With Felipe Calderon

Sunday, June 18, 2006

What is your vision for Mexico if you are elected president?

I want Mexico to be a winner in a world that is competing for investment and jobs.

Does electing you mean continuing the reform agenda of President Fox?

I want to keep Mexico on the path of modernization and economic growth. We need to improve the competitiveness of enterprises here in order to improve the performance of the economy and to get higher growth rates.

Would you open up the energy sector and allow private companies to come in?

I will not privatize public sector firms like Pemex [the state-owned oil monopoly] or the state-owned electricity company.

Don't you need to attract foreign investment to create jobs?

In order to create jobs and get growth, it's necessary to [have] . . . national and foreign investment. In the energy sector, I am not thinking of foreign investment.

President Fox came to office with an ambitious reform agenda but did not succeed because he was blocked in congress by the opposition. Many say that the same would happen to you.

I am proposing a coalition government. I would like to be president with a majority in congress. I want to make agreements with other parties in the opposition in order to get a majority, and I am willing to share the program of the government and the cabinet. I want to be able to push an agenda of reforms in the congress.

The tone of the campaign is nasty. Lopez Obrador said in the debate that your brother-in-law got government contracts when you were energy minister.

He claimed that I gave my brother-in-law $250 million in contracts when I was energy minister, and [claimed that my brother-in-law] hadn't paid any taxes. That is absolutely false. I didn't give one single contract to my brother-in-law or any of his companies while I was energy minister.

So Lopez Obrador is lying?

Yes. According to the law, the burden of proof is on the accuser, and they have not presented a single contract.

There are videotapes showing aides of Lopez Obrador receiving money in the past from a businessman who's now in jail.

Yes, it's like a thief calling someone else a thief.

Many worry that Lopez Obrador doesn't respect the law. Do you share that concern?

That's a big difference between him and me. I do believe in the rule of law. He believes that laws are a relative [concept], and they are subject to his concept of justice. Several times he has said that if a law is not just, he will not apply that law.

Do you think [Lopez Obrador] is like Chavez?

He will take the country to a new economic crisis because . . . [he believes] the government has to increase spending above its capacity. All of this would result in an economic crisis similar to the crises of '76, '82, '87 and '94. In addition, he has this old ideology in which he pits the poor against the rich.

What kind of relationship would you like Mexico to have with the U.S. if you become president?

It needs to be a constructive relationship so that the problems we share will be solved by both countries, including drug trafficking and immigration. [We need] cooperation with dignity.

What did you think of President Bush's speech on immigration?

I think it's a mistake to believe that immigration will be solved by the National Guard or a new wall. The only way to reduce immigration is to create jobs in Mexico.

You ran some effective ads against Lopez Obrador, calling him "a danger to Mexico."

The IFE [Mexico's election board] has forbidden me from saying that. They claim that the slogan affected his reputation. Of course, the IFE officials may be a little bit afraid of what Lopez Obrador is going to say. It's unfair.

Do your internal polls show you in the lead?

I'm leading right now, but it's a very tense moment because I'm under attack. But I have clean hands and my heart is at peace. I can talk with a clean conscience. In 20 days, I will be elected president of Mexico.