SouthernGal
"Don't retreat...reload"
Mexico's President Calderon to speak on immigration in Dallas
08:37 PM CDT on Wednesday, April 16, 2008
By ALFREDO CORCHADO / The Dallas Morning News
acorcado@dallasnews.com
MEXICO CITY – In his first trip to Texas as president, Mexico's Felipe Calderón will make a brief stop in Dallas on Tuesday to talk about an issue that has become more and more contentious in recent months – immigration.
Mr. Calderón will appear at a conference of the Institute for Mexicans Abroad, a 125-member advisory council formed by the Mexican government in 2003 to strengthen ties between Mexico and its sons and daughters working in other countries.
It will be only the second time that the group, which meets twice a year, will meet in the U.S. The first was in Atlanta in 2004.
"The Mexican government believes that protection assistance programs for Mexicans in the United States should be strengthened continuously, and Texas, as the second-largest state with Mexicans, represents the ideal geographic place for these programs," said a spokeswoman for Mr. Calderón. She added that the president believes it's important "to personally connect with Mexicans who live and work in Texas."
Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert invited Mr. Calderón to Dallas during a January trade mission to Monterrey, Mexico. Mr. Leppert called Dallas a "culturally diverse city with a strong Hispanic presence."
Other cities in the region, including Farmers Branch and Irving, have generated controversy by taking strong stands and implementing policies against illegal immigration.
For his part, Mr. Calderón has criticized the "growing harassment" of Mexicans in the United States.
Taking part in summit
Mr. Calderón will travel to Dallas from New Orleans, where he meets Monday and Tuesday in a North American summit with President Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The topics of the meeting range from prosperity to border security – issues that will probably follow Mr. Calderón to Dallas.
News of Mr. Calderon's visit – he will speak at the Renaissance Hotel in Dallas – was applauded by Mexican immigrants in Dallas on Wednesday.
"This is great news," said Mario Cesar Ramírez, a Dallas restaurant owner and institute board member. "But we respectfully ask that President Calderón doesn't come here calling us heroes. We want him to help open the door of opportunities so that we can provide economic development for the Mexicans living in the United States and our families back in Mexico."
During his visit, Mr. Calderón also wants to strengthen ties with business leaders and Hispanic political leaders. Mr. Calderón is pursuing several key reforms in Mexico, including plans to open the energy sector to increased foreign participation. That proposal has ignited a raucous debate.
Larry Rubin, a business consultant and former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico, said the visit offers Mr. Calderón an "opportunity to gauge Texas business leaders on their commitment to invest in Mexico and create jobs. ... I hope the level of debate will translate into an energy reform that will allow Americans, particularly Texas because of their oil expertise, an opportunity to do more business in Mexico."
Tension in Mexico
Mr. Calderón's visit comes at a tense time in Mexico. His trip received the required approval by Mexican legislators, but an ongoing blockade forced them to meet away from the Congress building for the vote.
Left-leaning lawmakers from the Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, and their supporters had stormed and seized the podiums of both houses of Congress as part of a campaign to force Mr. Calderón to back down on his energy reform plan.
The oil industry was nationalized in 1938, when foreign companies were kicked out of Mexico by President Lázaro Cárdenas.
Over the weekend, PRD lawmaker Cuauhtémoc Sandoval expressed suspicion that the trip was really about oil, telling El Universal newspaper it was an attempt to "tell the U.S. president and Canadian prime minister, 'Here it is.' "
Mr. Calderón and other members of his administration have insisted that there is no plan to privatize the oil industry. Instead, Mr. Calderón has long said that modernizing the state oil company is critical to transforming Mexico from a country that exports its people to the United States into a country that retains its brightest minds with opportunities for a better life.
"I'm not a president who likes to see Mexicans leave the country, because every immigrant who leaves Mexico represents a loss, a family without a father, a son without a good father," he said at Harvard University in February. "I don't relish migration."
In addition to immigration and oil, Mr. Calderón is grappling with organized crime, an ongoing threat to security, particularly along the Texas-Mexico border.
Since taking office, Mr. Calderón has sent more than 25,000 troops to violent hotspots in Mexico to confront drug kingpins. The steps have resulted in the arrests of more than 22,000 suspected criminals with links to drug trafficking, plus tons of confiscated drugs and cash. He's also extradited more than 100 drug suspects to U.S. jails.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon.../stories/041708dnmetcalderon.317260a.html?npc
08:37 PM CDT on Wednesday, April 16, 2008
By ALFREDO CORCHADO / The Dallas Morning News
acorcado@dallasnews.com
MEXICO CITY – In his first trip to Texas as president, Mexico's Felipe Calderón will make a brief stop in Dallas on Tuesday to talk about an issue that has become more and more contentious in recent months – immigration.
Mr. Calderón will appear at a conference of the Institute for Mexicans Abroad, a 125-member advisory council formed by the Mexican government in 2003 to strengthen ties between Mexico and its sons and daughters working in other countries.
It will be only the second time that the group, which meets twice a year, will meet in the U.S. The first was in Atlanta in 2004.
"The Mexican government believes that protection assistance programs for Mexicans in the United States should be strengthened continuously, and Texas, as the second-largest state with Mexicans, represents the ideal geographic place for these programs," said a spokeswoman for Mr. Calderón. She added that the president believes it's important "to personally connect with Mexicans who live and work in Texas."
Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert invited Mr. Calderón to Dallas during a January trade mission to Monterrey, Mexico. Mr. Leppert called Dallas a "culturally diverse city with a strong Hispanic presence."
Other cities in the region, including Farmers Branch and Irving, have generated controversy by taking strong stands and implementing policies against illegal immigration.
For his part, Mr. Calderón has criticized the "growing harassment" of Mexicans in the United States.
Taking part in summit
Mr. Calderón will travel to Dallas from New Orleans, where he meets Monday and Tuesday in a North American summit with President Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The topics of the meeting range from prosperity to border security – issues that will probably follow Mr. Calderón to Dallas.
News of Mr. Calderon's visit – he will speak at the Renaissance Hotel in Dallas – was applauded by Mexican immigrants in Dallas on Wednesday.
"This is great news," said Mario Cesar Ramírez, a Dallas restaurant owner and institute board member. "But we respectfully ask that President Calderón doesn't come here calling us heroes. We want him to help open the door of opportunities so that we can provide economic development for the Mexicans living in the United States and our families back in Mexico."
During his visit, Mr. Calderón also wants to strengthen ties with business leaders and Hispanic political leaders. Mr. Calderón is pursuing several key reforms in Mexico, including plans to open the energy sector to increased foreign participation. That proposal has ignited a raucous debate.
Larry Rubin, a business consultant and former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico, said the visit offers Mr. Calderón an "opportunity to gauge Texas business leaders on their commitment to invest in Mexico and create jobs. ... I hope the level of debate will translate into an energy reform that will allow Americans, particularly Texas because of their oil expertise, an opportunity to do more business in Mexico."
Tension in Mexico
Mr. Calderón's visit comes at a tense time in Mexico. His trip received the required approval by Mexican legislators, but an ongoing blockade forced them to meet away from the Congress building for the vote.
Left-leaning lawmakers from the Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, and their supporters had stormed and seized the podiums of both houses of Congress as part of a campaign to force Mr. Calderón to back down on his energy reform plan.
The oil industry was nationalized in 1938, when foreign companies were kicked out of Mexico by President Lázaro Cárdenas.
Over the weekend, PRD lawmaker Cuauhtémoc Sandoval expressed suspicion that the trip was really about oil, telling El Universal newspaper it was an attempt to "tell the U.S. president and Canadian prime minister, 'Here it is.' "
Mr. Calderón and other members of his administration have insisted that there is no plan to privatize the oil industry. Instead, Mr. Calderón has long said that modernizing the state oil company is critical to transforming Mexico from a country that exports its people to the United States into a country that retains its brightest minds with opportunities for a better life.
"I'm not a president who likes to see Mexicans leave the country, because every immigrant who leaves Mexico represents a loss, a family without a father, a son without a good father," he said at Harvard University in February. "I don't relish migration."
In addition to immigration and oil, Mr. Calderón is grappling with organized crime, an ongoing threat to security, particularly along the Texas-Mexico border.
Since taking office, Mr. Calderón has sent more than 25,000 troops to violent hotspots in Mexico to confront drug kingpins. The steps have resulted in the arrests of more than 22,000 suspected criminals with links to drug trafficking, plus tons of confiscated drugs and cash. He's also extradited more than 100 drug suspects to U.S. jails.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon.../stories/041708dnmetcalderon.317260a.html?npc
