Calderon Shifts Attention to the Poor
Leftist politician Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador may not be the next president of Mexico, but his campaign theme of putting the poor first still has legs.
In his first speech after the Federal Electoral Tribunal declared him the winner of the July 2 election, President-elect Felipe Calderon dumped his campaign mantra of “Mexico’s jobs president” and promised to put poverty at the top of his political and legislative agenda.
“If something demands urgent action and all the power of the Mexican state, it is taking care of millions of families who still live in poverty,” Calderon said late Tuesday. “This has always been my personal conviction, you know, and surely it’s the conviction of millions of Mexicans.”
He repeated his new theme in appearances Wednesday and said it was first among his presidential goals, ahead of creating jobs and fighting crime.
Embracing Lopez Obrador’s rhetoric on putting the poor first is a significant shift for Calderon, whose campaign hailed investment as the engine for jobs and economic growth. He praised Mexico’s free-market path and promised to combat the crime and corruption that scare off investors. He criticized Lopez Obrador’s platform of public-works projects and subsidies, saying Mexicans wanted jobs, not handouts.
“I want the nation to assume its social responsibility, especially for the most vulnerable, to promote and guarantee equal opportunities,” Calderon said in his acceptance speech. “First will be fighting poverty and overcoming inequality.”
President Vicente Fox echoed the sentiment in his speech Tuesday night congratulating Calderon and calling for national unity. “The real enemies of Mexico,” he said, “are poverty, marginalization and inequality.”
The two men spent Wednesday morning on the grounds of Los Pinos, the presidential residence, discussing the transition and the federal budget.
Aides say Calderon probably will try to expand Oportunidades, Mexico’s federal poverty program that pays struggling families $16 to $200 a month, depending on how many children or elderly live at home.
It’s not much cash, but Calderon aides hope it’s enough to neutralize the influence of Lopez Obrador, who raised expectations among the country’s 50 million poor with promises of greater government help.
Lopez Obrador’s supporters have continued a blockade of one of the capital’s main thoroughfares and its central square, the Zocalo, and have vowed to form a parallel government.
Oportunidades has been a bright spot in the Fox administration, which expanded the program to 5 million families, reaching a quarter of Mexico’s population. It requires parents to keep children in school and families to maintain regular medical visits.
Critics say the money fills bellies, but it is nowhere near enough to educate poor children beyond the ninth grade, the last tuition-free year in public schools.
Lopez Obrador struck at this nerve during his campaign. He pointed out that education remains Mexico’s great divide, with only the affluent and a few lucky scholarship winners able to obtain the schooling needed in the global economy.
He sounded especially irate after hearing Calderon promise to fight poverty, in an effort to reach the 14.6 million people who voted for Lopez Obrador.
“They’re going to start giving out crumbs to win over the poor, trading in the need and poverty of the people,” said Lopez Obrador, who lost the election by half a percentage point. “They believe giving out crumbs will help them maintain a political system that benefits only a few.”
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Carlos Martinez and Cecilia Sanchez of The Times’ Mexico City Bureau contributed to this report.
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