Free Republic

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Former Mexican President Vicente Fox proposed on Wednesday the legalization of opium poppy production as a way to help end bloody turf battles fought by drug cartels in various parts of the country. Fox served as president from 2000-2006 with the center-right National Action Party but has since distanced himself from the party. In the past, he has also advocated for the legalization of marijuana. “The plants themselves are not harmful, we make them harmful, (especially) the criminals who use them for evil purposes,” Fox said at a pro-marijuana event in the capital. He also implored...

There are now so many Mexicans living in California that a major political party, the National Action Party, known by the acronym PAN, recently held its convention in Los Angeles. In 2000, the party's successful presidential candidate, Vincente Fox, and his rival both campaigned in California to reach Mexican voters who, since 1996, have with dual citizenship legally voted in Mexican as well as U.S. elections. There are estimates of between 12 and 20 million in the U.S., a growing number with dual citizenship. Many of them exercise an assertive Mexican identity, resist assimilation and dream about reclaiming that part...