Mexican Candidates and Immigration

sToday’s AP wires carry a brief sketch of the Mexican candidates’ positions on topics of importance to the US.  On immigration, they report the following:

CALDERON: Espouses temporary guest worker program in U.S. and job creation in Mexico so people won’t have to leave.

LOPEZ OBRADOR: Promises to use Mexican consulates to defend immigrants’ rights in U.S., and wants U.S. to contribute to job creation in Mexico.

MADRAZO: Promises to reduce migration by helping more Mexicans survive on their farms, through subsidies and aid programs.

A link to the full wire story is here.

As Marla Dickerson’s story in today’s LA Times reminds us, the role of the US in Mexico’s economic woes is an important point of contention in the presidential debate in Mexico.

The contest pits leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who wants to boost social spending and rethink the NAFTA relationship, against conservative Felipe Calderon, who wants to maintain Mexico’s policy on free trade and open the country’s state-controlled energy sector to private investment. Their divergent views reflect the soaring achievements and bitter disappointments that have accompanied Mexico’s economic restructuring.

The “restructuring” in question was the “the Washington-backed prescription of privatization, free trade and government austerity in the early 1980s.”  The LA Times story is here.

-jmc

-jmc