Posted on 06/07/2004 1:29:05 PM PDT by Shermy
Mexico's President Vicente Fox Quesada is to offer Russia to join the recently formed group, which comes out for Iraq's democratic and sovereign development. The President announced this to Russian journalists before Vladimir Putin's visit to Mexico starting on Monday.
The decision to form the group was taken at the recent EU-Latin American-Caribbean summit in Guadalajara (Mexico).
Today this group includes France, Germany, Spain, Chile and Mexico.
"Mexico and Russia have common approaches to international problems. We understand the necessity to build a multi-polar world, share similar views of further developments in Iraq and enjoy joint experience on this problem," Vicente Fox Quesada stressed.
"Moreover, we highly assess Russia's potential in UN reforms aimed to build the multi-polar world, the 21st century's model chosen by developing countries," the Mexican leader said.
He expects to sign important agreements with Russian in many spheres during Vladimir Putin's visit to Mexico.
"We have much in common. Our economies are based on energy and trade and both countries are winning world markets. The Russian and Mexican governments focus on social development and work to eliminate poverty," he noted.
Speaking about prospects for Russian-Mexican economic cooperation, the Mexican President pointed out a number of most effective and mutually beneficial spheres.
"Undoubtedly, we can achieve great results in energy sphere. Mexico imports natural gas and in spite of long distances between our countries it can become a major consumer of the Russian gas. We can form strategic alliances in the energy sphere," Vicente Fox Quesada noted.
"Our countries boast great experience and knowledge in petrochemistry, electric energy, natural gas processing and use. Today Mexico is searching for the best ways to invest into its gas sphere. It can offer productive cooperation with Russia,"the President said.
According to him, his recent trip over Eastern Europe has shown that this region possesses great potential for mutually beneficial trade and investments. "I am convinced Mexico can develop cooperation in this sphere not only with Poland and Hungary but also with Russia," he added.
In addition, Vicente Fox Quesada pointed out hi-tech, education and culture as promising spheres of Russian-Mexican cooperation.
"During the first-ever visit to Mexico by the Russian President we are to discuss the construction of a heavy engineering center in the State of Hidalgo for the needs of our military industry, transport and building," the Mexican leader said during his trip to Hidalgo on Sunday.
Moreover, the Mexican government is to discuss with the Russian side the construction of a major helicopter service center in Veracruz on the basis of the existing enterprise, which was built by Russian companies.
"I hope to achieve agreements on these issues with President Vladimir Putin," Vicente Fox Quesada concluded.
"....As for international affairs, Fox is going to propose to Putin Russia’s joining a group of five countries that had agreed to coordinate their stances on Iraq.
Mexico, France, Germany, Spain and Chile had agreed during the recent European-Latin American summit in Guadalajara to keep consultations over the situation in Iraq.
Fox said he wanted to offer to Putin Russia’s joining the group in order to reach a confident consensus about resolutions that should be passed on Iraq, he told Itar-Tass.
Fox stressed the importance of a multilateral approach to solving the Iraqi problem, adding that Russia has a strategic role in asserting a multilateral concept of the world order/
Fox highly assessed personal contacts with the Russian president and telephone contacts with him. ..."
I think Mexico presents a real problem to the U.S. and not just regarding immigration. I think some crazies in ole Mexico are seriously thinking about aggressive moves vis-a-vis the U.S.
Ask anyone, Bush does what he says he will do. Not clear about the others.
ya i am sure bush will not be doing any favors for mexico these days. mexico is needing some bitch slapping and the immigration thing might be the easiest way to handle it, let them immigrate to russia and france for a while.
They have good reason to be -- they're playing us like a drum.
France, etc. obsessive use of the word "sovreignty" must have something to do with reviving the little talked about Saddam era oil contracts, or grabbing the Food for Oil billions in lieu of Saddam era debts.
As for Fox, he got something from Chirac, or just wants to rub our noses.
Bush will never call Fox on the carpet. What does he have to trade? Republicat funders are intent on keeping the borders open to squeeze more bucks out of American wage earners.
"Us", if the Republicrat elites, are playing drums in tandem. It is a policy not to enforce immigration laws so to alter the American labor market. Short term profits by depressing wages are recycled into campaign contributions.
The next work force on the block is transportation: from truckers to pizza delivers. Mexican truck drivers will work cheaper, and the immigration lobbies are putting big bucks into the "licenses for illegals" scam. They wouldn't spend a dime if it didn't profit them.
You hit the nail on the head, Shermy.
You have to consider that to the Mexicans high tech doesn't even include indoor plumbing for half it's citizens. Education means 3 years of schools for the majority.
But Fox's unique plan is to get rid of his own people.
"Mexico and Russia have common approaches to international problems. We understand the necessity to build a multi-polar world, share similar views of further developments in Iraq and enjoy joint experience on this problem," Vicente Fox Quesada stressed. "Moreover, we highly assess Russia's potential in UN reforms aimed to build the multi-polar world, the 21st century's model chosen by developing countries," the Mexican leader said.
Multi-polar is EU code word for anti-American. Fox didn't think this up himself. Sounds like an idea Chirac's been circulating - note the reference about using the "UN" to do this. France likes the UN because it has disproportionate power there via the 1945 gift of a Security Council veto.
On the bright side, it doesn't appear Putin's on board - yet.
I've noticed France has been Bush-wacking Bush in the media over these (fifth set?) of UN/Iraq negotiations, controlling the media discussion about "sovreignty", submarining the discussion about their other money demands.
Most likely that's all this cozying up to Russia is --- Fox is thinking of Russia for the near-future home for millions of his citizens --- he's always doing that --- trying to find them countries they can go live in. Ethnic cleansing on a very grand scale.
Mexico has always been a little insular in its view of the world, with little interest in the world outside Mexico and the US.
So in a way it is a good idea for them to step out and start playing on the varsity field. There is no reason Mexico shouldn't be pursuing deals with Russia or any other country. There is already a tremendous amount of Japanese and Korean investment in the country, this is one of the reasons behind Nafta, it was in part a response to an increasing Japanese presence there.
That is one side of the Nafta coin.
One down side is that Japanese (and now, perhaps, Russian) companies can take advantage of Nafta to export into the US.
There was a tremendous wave of industrialization that occurred as a result of Nafta, but much of that has been curtailed with the opening of China. Dollar per hour Mexican workers can't compete with Chinese labor even when the hourly rates are the same, which they usually are not; Chinese labor protections have not yet risen to Mexican standards, and consequently industries are locating to China rather than Mexico in many cases. I know of at least one US plant that shut down in Mexico and relocated itself to China.
This is a separate issue from Mexico's attempt to join the anti-US club down at the UN. Fox and his PAN party are often referred to as conservatives, and its instructive to consider what that means. They are "conservative" in the sense of being marginally more pro-catholic, at least historically. They have often been considered as more pro-business, although in their stated positions they have been all over the map, maybe they could be called pro-business, pro-catholic, marxist nationalists.
And this is the key to our problem with them, the nationalist part. They want to be taken seriously by the big boys, and to them the big boys are France and Russia. Fox has gotten himself on the outs with Bush, and that is unlikely to change unless he can make a nuisance of himself. So he is going to position himself in the UN such that we will have to pay attention.
Mexico's economy is a self-inflicted problem, and because of Mexico's view of itself it is almost unsolveable. But Fox was elected in order to turn the country around, and the most common criticism is that he has done nothing. He needs to make a splash. Convincing the US to make some small concession on Mexican immigration would do it for him. The image of Mexicans crossing the northern border in droves, despite supposed and sometimes real mistreatment, is humiliating for any Mexican nationalist. Because the inescapable point is that no matter how bad it is in the US, it is obviously better there than it is in Mexico. Hence the drive to seize on this issue and make some hay with it. It would obviously be better to solve the economy so that Mexico wouldn't have to bleed its citizenry, but that would require a rejection of the very revolutionary history that is Mexico's pride. It isn't going to happen.
Which brings us to the US part of the equation. Fixing the borders would require political will. And no one has it. Both political parties are trying to make inroads into the Mexican American voting population, and they are both just tone-deaf enough that they don't know how to do it while closing the borders. The fact that Mexican Americans support tightened borders in about the same percentage as Americans in general escapes most pols. And polls. Even the Wilson bills in California a few years back were supported by Mexican American voters in exactly the same percentage as voters in general, but you would never have known it, the polling data was buried and the news cameras focused on street demonstrations, and pretty quickly everyone lost their nerve and backed down.
So we have the hypocrisy of first rate labor laws which are unenforced. We have the charade of Dems and Repubs arguing for labor protections that, at the end of the day, will be dead letters for a sizeable portion of the labor force. And we have a two-tiered labor force made up of people who receive protection and those who don't, those who are eligible for unemployment and workman's comp and all the rest and those who aren't.
Mexico imports natural gas? Surprise to me, given their petroleum production.
Learn something every day.
I think such folks (where do they meet? in El Telephono Bootho?) are not complaining in Mexico because of the DOLLAR$ that these folks send back. Stop the DOLLAR$ and their tune will change real quick, amigo.
Maybe it's a situation where they export from one coast but import into the other.
That surprises me too.
San Diego Gas is gearing up to build a large liquid natural gas plant just south of the border. It will receive natural gas from the new Peruvian pipeline that has just now been completed. It could also receive gas from Bolivia's proposed gas line if they muster the will to ignore the radicals, and I suppose they could receive gas from Siberia as well.
But the customer in this case is not Mexico, its the US. They are building on the Mexican side of the line to avoid the nightmare of trying to get a permit in California. But all of the gas is earmarked for the US market.
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