[CTC] U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson's statement on Colombia Free Trade Agreement

[Gimena Sanchez]

Trade top priority for Mexican front-runner

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/apr/17/trade-top-priority-for-mexican-front-runner/

Bloody war on drugs takes back seat

By Guy Taylor

The Washington Times

QUERETARO, Mexico — The front-runner in Mexico’s presidential race has  
attracted throngs of supporters among elite and ordinary citizens  
alike with his calls to boost his country’s trade relationships with  
Canada and the U.S. — a refocusing effort his staffers call “NAFTA  
2.0” — and to tamp down the drug violence that has muddied Mexico’s  
reputation.

For Enrique Pena Nieto of the Institutional Revolutionary Party — and  
apparently the majority of the Mexican electorate — the economic ties  
that bind the U.S. and Mexico “need to grow.”

“If we take into consideration what’s happening in the world and the  
way that competition among countries today is being built by blocs, I  
believe we have a great opportunity to make a very strong bloc in  
North America,” he said in an exclusive interview with The Washington  
Times.

“I will work on building infrastructure that can make the whole region  
of North America more competitive.”

His message may sound unusual, if not naive, in a country where the  
news is dominated by reports about drug gangs, corrupt cops and the  
deaths of nearly 50,000 people in drug-related violence during recent  
years.


Headline stories about U.S.-Mexico relations often refer to an aid  
program known as the Merida Initiative, which has received $1.6  
billion in drug war support from Washington since 2008.

Mr. Pena Nieto calls for establishing an elite police force to fight  
organized crime and an “independent czar” who would focus on the  
victims of public corruption.

But he is bent on shifting the narrative away from the illicit drug  
trade and toward a collective realization of the potential for growth  
in the legal economic flow between Mexico and the U.S. — a message  
that resonates among rank-and-file voters seeking jobs and business  
owners seeking new markets.

A centrist politician with boyish good looks and charm, Mr. Pena Nieto  
has built a big lead in the polls ahead of the July 1 election. If he  
wins, which many here say is inevitable, his plan is to channel that  
charm toward the United States.

“We have an opportunity to go further in our relationship with the  
United States and Canada, but especially with the United States,” he  
said.

‘Private-sector participation’

With Canada as the No. 1 U.S. trading partner, Mexico rivals China for  
the No. 2 spot — ahead of Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom and Brazil.

Mexico is the third-largest source of U.S. imports and the second- 
largest destination for U.S. exports, translating into an estimated 6  
million U.S. jobs dependent on trade with the southern neighbor.

The bulk of Mexico’s trade involves manufacturing by U.S. outfits  
tapping lower-cost labor, but Mr. Pena Nieto envisions expanded  
opportunities for foreign investment in other sectors — specifically  
energy.

A good place to start, he said, would be to reform Mexico’s declining  
state oil monopoly, PEMEX, to“allow the private sector to participate  
in exploration, production and refining.”


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