Prospects for Mexico Topic of Cancun Forum

Mexico’s Caribbean resort of Cancun is the venue for the next round in the ongoing battle about the globalization of the world economy that has sparked street brawls and high-level debates from Seattle to Prague, Czech Republic. The World Economic Forum, known for its annual meeting drawing business leaders, presidents and protesters to the Swiss ski town Davos, this week heads to Cancun for two days of talks on the prospects for Latin America’s second-largest economy.

The forum’s Mexico meeting, to be held today and Tuesday, is aimed at debating Mexico’s economic, political and social outlook after President Vicente Fox snapped seven decades of single-party rule when he took office in December. Meanwhile, local and international grass-roots groups have vowed to show their opposition to neoliberal policies that have held sway in Mexico since the early 1980s. Forum organizers have moved to bridge the gap between the meeting’s participants and anti-globalization forces, holding talks with nongovernmental organizations in Mexico and scheduling panel discussions including one titled “How Is Mexican Cultural Identity Coping with Globalization.”