Making Friends and Influencing People

President Bush is finishing off his Latin American jaunt today. I heard a broadcast of his joint press conference with Mexican President Felipe Calderon this morning. He made a fool of himself, at one point cutting off a Mexican reporter to ask about the dinner menu. Meanwhile, Calderon took shots on immigration (why a fence), and the war on drugs (reducing demand would go a long way to helping reduce supply).

At least in public, neither man was willing to discuss the real issue between Mexico and the US: NAFTA. Since NAFTA was signed, Mexico has seen only marginal economic growth, including at least on year of sharp economic contraction due to the peso crisis. The country's manufacturing economy has shrunk and the wages of industrial workers have declined. Mexico's agricultural economy has been devastated by competition with US agribusiness. This has left the country awash in jobless campesinos and frustrated workers in the supposed boom towns along the border.

Four years ago, we were assured Bush had a great relationship with Calderon's predecessor, Vincente Fox. However, it seems the lack of results from that relationship has made Calderon cautious about his supposed friend in Washington. (That and the fact that Calderon narrowly defeated an explicitly anti American Luis Obrador for the presidency.)

In sum, the President went abroad. He was greeted by hundreds of protesters everywhere he went. (Mexicans stormed both the hotel where Bush was staying and the US Embassy. Bush was kept under wraps in Colombia due to safety concerns and his trip to Brazil was marked by violent protests.) The closest thing he had to a friend, Calderon, was to say the least, candid about his concerns. Hardly a win.