FRANCISCO LABASTIDA

Mexico’s relationship with the United States is one of the most dynamic and complex in the world. Our citizens living on the 2,000-mile border are on the front line of the U.S.-Mexico relationship. It is important that the U.S., like Mexico, work hard to support policies that address the common challenges our citizens face on a daily basis.

My administration will focus its efforts on strengthening our policies at home so that we can continue to build a strong and mutually successful partnership. It is essential that we each continue to address the issues in which we share a common bond.

I am committed to meeting the challenges faced by a changing Mexico by building a stable future for our country. I will bring integrity, dedication and experience to this job in order to make my vision of Mexico a reality.

To ensure that Mexico is not held back, my goal is to take our country to the new millennium with a better standard of living. To do that, I have committed to creating a million new jobs a year at better wages; reforming the justice system and strengthening the rule of law; building educational opportunities from preschool through university; and expanding investment in Mexico’s greatest resource--our people.

Economic progress must reach everyone. The first step is education. We will work to retool the education system so that it fully prepares students to compete for the jobs of tomorrow. Then we will work with private employers to create work-force development programs and job training. We also will target job-creation efforts in areas with high migration to reduce the number of workers who are forced to leave their communities in search of jobs.

Also, we will expand multilateral cooperation in the fight against our new common enemies: drug cartels, gun traffickers, money launderers and organized crime bosses. To strengthen the rule of law, we will spearhead a top-to-bottom review of Mexico’s judicial system and put 25,000 new, highly trained law officers on the streets.

I want to build a better future for Mexico. I am convinced that the values that we share with the United States--the values of democracy, equal opportunity and social justice--are honorable goals to which we should always aspire.