Breathing Room for Mexico Victor

It took 71 years for Mexico’s political opposition to unseat the Party of the Institutionalized Revolution. When Vicente Fox and his National Action Party finally toppled the PRI three weeks ago, the calls for change rang out across the country. If only it were that easy.

While Mexicans celebrate a clean election and a peaceful transfer of power, the United States must be careful not to expect too much of Fox too soon. The president-elect needs some breathing room before announcing and implementing his plans and programs.

His priorities in order, Fox is now preparing a trip to Washington to meet with President Clinton and perhaps congressional leaders. They would be prudent to give the new president time to navigate his way through the most complicated foreign relationship every Mexican leader faces. Fox, whose views on foreign relations are little known, is already under pressure within Mexico to formulate policies.

Three topics will continue to dominate relations between Mexico City and Washington and create occasional friction: illegal drugs, trade and immigration. Mutual interests also include the environment and tourism. Both countries should avoid hot-button issues at the outset.

Drug trafficking is a crisis for both countries, but U.S. officials should recognize that unilateral measures like the annual certification on cooperation with Washington to suppress drugs do more to damage the relationship with Mexico than build it.

Trade is a success story in the making. The North American Free Trade Agreement has been a resounding success for both countries and Canada, creating new jobs and spreading wealth. For the past 18 years, Mexico has engaged in a major effort for economic modernization, and its people are beginning to reap the fruits of that effort with an increasingly strong export-oriented economy. Mexico is now America’s second-largest trading partner. Fox and the next U.S. president must cooperate to keep the momentum going.

On immigration, Fox has floated the idea of expanding the North American Free Trade Agreement into a common market modeled on the European Union. He wants to take NAFTA to the level of free movement of labor linked to capital investment. Fox can expect opposition in some U.S. quarters, but the ideas are worth discussing, and Washington should listen well.