Daljit Dhaliwal:
Those days are over in Mexico, aren't they?
Enrique Krauze:
Not totally and we need to talk about that. Of course after the fall of the iron wall ... but Cuba is still there and still draws some attention and sympathy from some places.
But let's go back to democracy. During the 1980's, we understand that the concentration of power in the hands of the president was something that entailed enormous risks, and in some northern modernized states of Mexico was a democratic awakening. Slowly we had elections in some of those Northern states, and found out that the PRI was trying to do the same old game, but some parts of the press noticed that and the international press started to notice that Mexico was … a politically irregular country.
Then came the 90's, and slowly the democratic awakening grew ... stronger and stronger ... and this man Fox, a rancher from Guanajuato in central Mexico, who had worked for Coca-Cola, understood that yes, his calling was to lead the country finally to a democratic change. There were writers and intellectuals and media and citizens that contributed to the process, but then the process came. Against some people who doubted it would ever happen.
So a country that didn't have democracy in all its history, save for a few years, suddenly begins to have clean elections in every level of state and regional and in the municipalities. Because now there is an independent agency, The Instituto Federal Electoral, which is independent from the government, that handles the elections, and makes us believe in that institution.
Well, that's a huge step. It is easier said than done, but Mexicans now vote and believe in their vote. Well, that's something important.
Freedom, political freedom, freedom of the press, freedom of the media -- to be able to know and to investigate things as they are, and to shed light into corruption and the problems of Mexico is something that is also an end in itself. Mexicans also like that.
It's not only a matter of formal elections, it's also an atmosphere of freedom that you breathe in Mexico now that you did not breathe in decades before. So there are
two things that el cambio has brought to Mexico. True civic liberties, freedom in the press and elections.
It's not only Fox who has done that, but it is something that shows that Mexico is growing or becoming a more mature country politically.
Daljit Dhaliwal:
Would it have happened without Fox?
Enrique Krauze:
No, I happen to think that individuals sometimes are important in history. You see? And we needed this leader to break the structure of the PRI. He was a wonderful leader for that democratic change. But yes, has he delivered? And in that sense we must say that his performance has been mediocre. Why? First of all Fox does not have political skills. One thing is to be a good leader in a campaign, and something quite different is to be a good politician. He is, in my opinion, not a politician. He likes to talk. He likes to be with crowds. He likes to woo them and be liked by them. He has a good heart and good intentions. People still believe in him. People know and think that he's honest, and I think he is.
Daljit Dhaliwal:
Why hasn't he been able to realize his promises?
Enrique Krauze:
First of all because of the lack of political skills of himself and of his cabinet. There are many reforms that need to be done in Mexico. We have a huge problem with energy. Electricity. Oil. Both are monopolized by the State -- it is highly inefficient. We are on the verge of having collapses in a few years in both aspects. And there are serious economic drawbacks and problems. We still don't have tax reform or a tax system that is minimally intelligent or suitable for the country. We have very outmoded labor laws. And of course there is a huge problem of the rule of law that we've been talking about.
Daljit Dhaliwal:
He's opened up the archives to have an investigation of the disappearances that happened in the 60's and 70's.
Enrique Krauze:
In that case, that is a very positive aspect relating to the freedom that I mentioned along with elections, free elections, and clean elections.
Daljit Dhaliwal:
So that was an easy one for him?
Enrique Krauze:
It's important, but not one of the most important things. Mexico, in its recent past, had some very traumatic experiences, like, for instance, the massacre of students in '68, and a sort of covert, secret war against some of those radical students in the 70s. And there were, for sure, many abuses done by the army and by the government. But nothing in comparison with let's say Chile or Argentina, not to mention some European recent experience of war. I mean, Mexico does not have in its recent past wounds of that nature or of that dimension. Nevertheless the wounds are there. And it's one of the positive aspects of el cambio to open up those archives. It's part of this new transparency that has to do with the freedom in the media that Mexicans are now enjoying. It is very important. But again, traditionally, we are not a people that dwell a lot on the past. Now, we are much more oriented towards the future.
Fox was brave to open the files. But it was something that he could do. You see, Mexicans elected a President of the PAN in the year 2000. But the House of Representatives and the Senate have majorities of the other two parties. The PRI and the left-wing party, the PRD.
They have blocked many of the initiatives that come from Fox. And they have been doing this in my opinion for the wrong reasons. Not that they had to approve everything, but there has been something systematic in the way they have been blocking the initiatives. The idea is to arrive to the elections in July 2003 next year, and for them to gain again the majority. They are making this blockade in order to impede the normal performance of Fox's government until the end - in 2006. Then the PRI dreams of coming back to power, while the PRD hopes to have for the first time their opportunity.
Daljit Dhaliwal:
Do you think Mexicans are going to sit back and let this happen?
Enrique Krauze:
I'm not saying that if the PRI comes back to power we will have again the old cooperative system. That is gone. The PRI was a party with a president, and the system is not there anymore. They even drew the resources directly from the Federal Reserve, you see? No. There are certain things in the system that not even a PRI president will be able to do again. But if things do not change -- if Fox does not deliver some things -- we might arrive to the year 2006 with the feeling that we should go back to a president of the PRI or, like it's happening in Latin America, a more left wing populist president. That is clearly something that can happen.
That's one reason why the United States and the Bush administration have a huge opportunity with Fox. Because he is a pro-American President, a president who believes in free market, and who believes in democracy. Who has a very friendly attitude towards the United States. That might change. The problem now appearing in Latin America, in many places, is disenchantment, not with democracy, but with globalization and free markets. In the case of Brazil where you most probably will have a populist - a left-wing leader or president in the October elections. You could have that in Mexico too.
It's very important to make it clear that there is a role for the United States here that they should understand. That this administration in Mexico is one that has the greatest convergence with the main values for liberty, economic freedoms, and political liberty in the United States.
Daljit Dhaliwal:
So do you think that's partly the reason why Fox didn't have a truth commission, for instance?
Enrique Krauze:
I think we really didn't need that much. I mean we know. The historians and the news media have been shedding enough light. We know many of the things that happened, happened. But we Mexicans know that we have such pressing problems in the country, that what we really need is a hands on attitude towards them. And try to begin to solve them, because if we don't, if the government doesn't do that, we will start thinking that the whole unveiling of the wounds of the past is like a smoke screen to disguise the limitations of this administration.
Daljit Dhaliwal:
Our film highlighted the murders of two lawyers in Mexico. What does that represent for Mexicans?
Enrique Krauze:
These two are very painful cases which, once again, corroborate that laws mean very little in Mexico. That the basic individual rights and security are something that we still have to achieve. There is a general sense of uneasiness in every level of the society. People go to work, and go afraid. When you have sons, no matter what age, or daughters, you're always worried about their fate, no matter at what time of the day. Because there is insecurity in the streets. I don't want to overstate this, but there is this problem. And whom do you turn to? If you know that the police in every level is implicated?
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