Monday, November 9, 1987AThe Battalion/Page 3
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State and Local
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Professor: Mexico’s stability depends on reform
Political scientist calls integration with U.S. needed factor
— ' ^ - ,v
Photo by Jay Janner
Dr. Jorge Castaneda
By Lee Schexnaider
Staff Writer
The future stability of Mexico is
dependent upon economic integra
tion with the United States and on
political, economic and social re
form, Dr. Jorge Castaneda said in
the closing speech of the Mexico-
USA conference Saturday.
Castaneda, a professor of political
science at the National University of
Mexico, said the changes are nec
essary for the country.
“The Mexican political system is
in dire need of reform,” he said.
He comented on Carlos Salinas,
the main candidate for the Mexican
presidency.
“I think the country needs major
political reform,” Castaneda said.
“I think (Salinas) understands
this,” he said.
“But the resistance he will face is
enormous,” he said.
Citing what he calls the “Salinas
Paradox,” Castaneda said that there
are high hopes that Salinas will be
able to reform Mexico, but he sees
three doubts that could stand in his
way:
• Can somebody so young, en
ergetic and technocratic run Mex
ico?
• Is he already too much in con
flict with the old political power base
and the union bureaucracy?
• Is he a “closet leftist?”
The reform of Mexico’s political
system will not be quick or easy, Cas
taneda said.
“It’s not going to happen without
turbulence,” he said. “People in the
U.S. should look at the general di
rection of the policy, npt the specific
policy.
“There will be problems, but
nothing out of this world — nothing
earthshaking.”
Castaneda said the views of U.S.
policymakers have a large impact on
Mexico.
The United States’ overriding
concern since the 1920s has been
Mexico’s stability, but only if it can
be achieved without unrest, he said.
“The U.S. wants to have its cake
and eat it too,” Castaneda said.
“It wants reform for stability and
wants no one to rock the boat,” he
said.
“It can’t be had both ways,” he
said.
He said how the economic inte
gration is handled will determine the
future of the Mexican economy.
He said the process could be re
sisted, managed or left alone.
But he said because of the close
economic links between the two
countries, the situation must be
taken seriously.
He criticized some U.S. politicans
for not being concerned about the
situation.
“There should be a greater de
gree of seriousness,” he said.
He said 60 percent to 80 percent
of the business Mexico does with the
rest of the world is done with the
United States, and 80 percent of the
tourism also comes from the United
States.
“Contraband is almost 100 per
cent with the U.S.,” he said.
He said the social issues are a
prime concern because of the large
number of poor people in Mexico.
He said 20 million to 25 million
Mexican people live in unacceptable
poverty.
But the problems are complex
and should be looked at closely, he
said.
“You can’t just solve the problem
by throwing money at it,” he said.
Official: U.S., Mexican policies have different purposes
By Drew Leder
Staff Writer
While Mexican foreign policy is
directed toward maintaining sover-
jeignty, independence and security,
I U.S. policy is based on achieving
global power and transmitting
I American ideology, the former
I chairman of Mexico’s House of Rep
resentatives said Friday.
Santiago Roel Garcia visited
Texas A&M to speak at “Mexico-
j USA: Past, Present and Future,” a
( Mexican Student Association confer
ence.
“It’s elementary to say that the
i Mexican way of practicing interna
tional politics and the American way
! of doing it have dissimilar origins,
different bases and different pur
poses,” Garcia told about 100 people
! in Rudder Theater.
The differences in the countries’
foreign affairs policies stem from
their different outlooks on the
world, Garcia said.
Although the policies occasionally
, are directed toward the same goal,
• they seldom go hand in hand, he
said.
“The Mexican and American ways
of handling their foreign affairs are
two parallel lines that approach and
separate but seldom unite,” Garcia
said. “Our ways of practicing our di
plomacy are very different because
of our different philosophies and
eting the
ways of interpreting the world
events.”
This difference of goals, he said,
originates from the countries’ differ
ing military capacities and econ
omies, which often leads to misun-
“Everything that affects the
United States affects us,” he said. “If
the U.S. coughs, we get pneumonia.”
This relationship, Garcia said, has
helped shape Mexican diplomacy.
“The only human resource Mex
ico has had, living geopolitically near
the U.S., is to have solid interna
tional principles and well-prepared
diplomats,” he said.
A good diplomatic relationship
“The Mexican and American ways of handling their
foreign affairs are two parallel lines that approach and
separate but seldom unite. ”
— Santiago Roel Garcia, former chairman of Mexico’s
House of Representatives
derstandings, particularly from the
side of the Americans, Garcia ex
plained.
Although Mexico and the United
States don’t always agree on foreign
policy issues, he said, geographic lo
cation makes it necessary for the two
countries to have an interdependent
relationship, which he called a see
saw relationship.
between the two countries is imper
ative, Garcia said, but during the
Cold War the United States subordi
nated its relations with Latin Ameri
can countries.
Recent problems facing the
United States, like a big debt, expor
tation and international trade com
petition, might help the countries
understand each other better, he
said.
“We observe from the outside that
since the ’50s and the Vietnam War,
the United States, in many impor
tant areas, has been declining,” Gar
cia said.
“The diplomacy of the U.S. will
eventually have some problems that
Mexico has suffered as a developing
country,” he said. “Perhaps this will
make the U.S. react in order to un
derstand us better.”
While the United States is facing
these problems, Mexico’s economy is
steadily improving and power is be
ing transmitted to a younger and
better-prepared generation, Garcia
said.
“Mexico is becoming more com
petitive, with an exportation menta
lity,” he said. “This new generation
will transform our country, eliminat
ing obsolete systems.”
But an improved bargaining posi
tion in world politics won’t change
the way Mexico handles its interna
tional affairs, Garcia said.
“We will continue maintaining
our basic international principles,”
he said.
Santiago Roel Garcia
Photo hy Sam B. Myers
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