By Judi McLeod
Friday, November 3, 2006
Not even officially in office yet, Felipe Caldern, Mexico's president-elect is already recruiting Canadians for Mexico.
Caldern, scheduled to take office on December 1, was in Canada in late October.
"apparently the U.S. isn't big enough for all the Mexicans Caldern wants to send north, so he'd like for some to go to Canada. www.VDaRE.com. "There's already a guest worker program for Mexican agricultural workers there, and Caldern wants to expand it to include non-agricultural workers as well."
The North american Highway seems to have found a booster in Mexico's new president. While in Canada, Caldern spoke favourably of the prospect of a common North american currency within 20 years,
He's no fan, however of the border fence decision, which US President George W. Bush was actually signing when Caldern was in Canada. In border fence bashing, Caldern called the wall "an unnecessary complication, inopportune and hurtful to both peoples."
"Humanity make a huge mistake by building the Berlin Wall and I believe that today the United States is committing a grave error in building the wall on our border," Caldern said. "It is much more useful to solve common problems and foster prosperity in both countries."
The wall, he says, will cause more, not fewer, Mexicans to die trying to cross the border. More than 400 people died trying to get into the U.S. illegally last year.
In fact, Caldern was hoping to have Canada join him in his fight against the american fence.
The president-elect did not get what he came for.
"I think we've said repeatedly as a country in our relations with the United States that we share the americans' concern for safe and secure borders," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said. "We believe that it is ultimately in all our economic interests, as well. We're prepared to work with the United States on that."
Back home Caldern is perceived by some as a man with a checkered past.
He won Mexico's presidential election in July by 233,831 votes under a cloud of accusations of fraud.
a lawyer by profession, Caldern received a bachelor's degree in law from the Escuela Libre de Derecho in Mexico City, a master's degree in economics from the Instituto Tecnologico autonomo de Mexico (ITaM) and a Master of Public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Choosing a political path in his 20s, Caldern was president of the PaN's youth movement.
Criticism dogged him long before accusations of fraud during election.
"Felipe Caldern has been accused of illegally borrowing and later re-paying 3 million pesos (300,000 US$) from Banobras, a state development bank, during his tenure as the bank's director." (Wikipedia).
"In the presidential candidate debate of June 6, 2006, andres Manuel Lopez, presidential candidate for the PRD, accused Felipe Caldern of granting contracts to a software company named Hildebrando, which Caldern's brother-in-law, Diego Zavala, founded and in which he has minority stock, during Caldern's eight-month tenure as Secretary of Energy. Lopez Obrador also accused the company of tax evasion. Investigations are still being conducted, without any outcome yet."
Election day, July 2, 2006 in Mexico ended in controversy with the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) announcing that the race was too close to call. The IFE ordered the candidates to abstain from declaring themselves as winners. Both candidates disobeyed the order. Just after Lopez Obrador declared that he had won the election, Caldern proclaimed his victory, stating that, according to the initial figures of the IFE, he had won the election.
Caldern's lead with 1.04% was marginal.
Caldern will be calling on the White House just two days after the mid-term elections and there is much speculation about what President George W. Bush will promise Mexico's president-elect during the meeting.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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