UCLA discusses Mexico’s new government, hosts leaders

By Dexter Gauntlett
Daily Bruin Reporter

To address Mexico’s transition in 2001 to its first
non-Partido Revolucionario Institucional government in 70 years,
UCLA hosted an all-day forum of political leaders, journalists and
scholars of Mexican descent Monday.

James Wilkie, chair for UCLA programs on Mexico who organized
the event, said the forum intended to offer a pluralistic view
among the panelists and to get people discussing issues facing
Mexico and the country’s President Vicente Fox, of the
Partido Acción Nacional.

“For the first time, the (Mexican) president represents
the country and not the party supporting him,” he said.

According to Wilkie, the political group Amigos de Fox took over
the PAN party, and now there is hostility among original PAN
members and Fox.

“Fox’s own party leaders don’t even support
him,” he said.

Fox, a former Coca Cola executive and governor of the Mexican
state of Guanajuato who won the presidential election with
approximately 43 percent of the vote, faces challenges in reviving
a post-recession economy, tax reform and energy policy.

First-year urban planning student Rita Mercédez Dávila
said Fox has been defined as the president of transition, but he
faces difficulty passing important legislation because the Mexican
Congress opposes many of Fox’s reforming ideas.

Bruce Willison, dean for the Anderson Graduate School of
Management, addressed Mexico’s continual economic transition,
citing the U.S. and Mexico’s symbiotic relationship with
trade, and an array of macroeconomic factors that Mexico must deal
with today.

Wilson said Mexico is the United States’ second biggest
trading partner, has the 11th largest economy in the world and its
future is considered bright.

Vice Provost for UCLA International Studies Department Geoffrey
Garrett cited how the recent “UCLA in LA” Day could
expand to global realms, including Mexico.

“The place of UCLA in L.A. is not just domestic; it has
international components,” Garrett said.

He extolled on the “entrenched” UCLA relationship
with Mexico, especially since Fox’s election.

“The number of students in exchange programs of the
University of California and Mexico is in the thousands and is
going to expand,” he said.

Representatives from the UC will be attending a meeting in
Toluca, Mexico, next week to discuss the university’s role in
poor urban areas of Mexico and to establish a university house in
those areas.

“This is not only an opportunity to move in a new
direction, but a responsibility to educate people about the complex
world,” Garrett said.

The final hour of the forum included a round-table discussion in
Spanish among the panelists about education, medical needs and
taxes.

“This type of discussion among all three (political)
parties is common in Mexico, and universities serve an important
role in facilitating these events,” said Mexican journalist
and Public Opinion leader Carlos Ramírez.