A Conversation With Vicente Fox
President Bush's decision to visit Mexico on his first foreign trip has both symbolic and practical implications for the U.S-Mexico relationship. Mexico is the U.S.'s second largest trading partner. Officially, it exports oil. Unofficially, Mexico supplies cheap labor and illegal drugs to the U.S.
But Mexican President Vicente Fox is determined to change that equation, as he told me in an exclusive television interview at the presidential palace in Mexico City.
"This is the country of mañana, tomorrow," Fox said. "Mexico is the country of siesta for many people. That has to change. This country is dynamic. It's active. This is going to be a great nation."
The big man in the cowboy boots has big dreams for his country. Mexicans elected Vicente Fox as an agent of change, and when they did, they made history by breaking seven decades of one-party rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
Fox wants no less than to change the way Mexicans think about themselves -- and the way Americans think about Mexico. That message will be central in Friday's meeting with President Bush.
"Revolution of hope," Fox labels his vision for Mexico. "And it is within the heart of everybody. I say that more of changing government is a change from within -- within the heart of every Mexican."
The significance of Fox's victory should't be underestimated. But neither can the challenges he faces. Almost half of Mexico's 100 million citizens live in poverty. The government is riddled with corruption, which is made worse by the thriving trade in illegal drugs. For 71 years, the government has been rife with corruption and kickbacks and cronyism. Fox wants to change that.
"That's one of our main priorities -- rule of law -- and an end of corruption with impunity," Fox said.
Fox has declared war on the Mexican drug cartels -- possibly the most violent and powerful crime syndicates in the world. Fox says he won't back down.
"We are going all the way on this. I will fight it to the end of my days of president and to the end of my days in life," he said.
At 6 feet 6 inches, Fox cuts an imposing figure. He is a rancher and former Coca-Cola executive in Mexico -- and he relishes his image as a maverick and a cowboy. He has cast himself as an outsider who is not afraid to take on the establishment.
As a boy, Fox and his father used to cross the border to sell broccoli in Texas. It's that experience that explains his sensitivity to the other major issue he'll address with Mr. Bush -- immigration. He would like to see the U.S. grant amnesty for all Mexicans working in the U.S.
"I would like to work towards, yes, getting an amnesty for those who are in the United States, who are servicing the U.S. economy, who are servicing the country even if they are legal or illegal," Fox said.
And guest workers move on a two-way street, he added: "We have a lot of Americans working here in Meico -- more and more every day, and we welcome them because they bring in talent."
President Fox knows he can't solve Mexico's problems on his own. The question is: How much is America willing to invest in Mexico's future?
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