PRESIDENT FOX BRIEFLY VISITS HERMOSILLO

UNCLAS HERMOSILLO 000095 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/MEX, EMBASSY MEXICO FOR POL AND MCCA DONAHUE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV ECON ELAB MX SUBJECT: PRESIDENT FOX BRIEFLY VISITS HERMOSILLO REF: HERMOSILLO 0082 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: President Vicente Fox made a lightning visit to Sonora March 4, ostensibly for ribbon cuttings on two highway infrastructure projects in Hermosillo. Local media described the visit as a low-key campaign stop on behalf of the National Action Party (PAN),which it seemed to be, but provided positive coverage. Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) Governor Bours conspicuously escorted the President throughout his visit, adding fuel to commentary about the degree of his estrangement from PRI presidential candidate Madrazo. End Summary. ¶2. (U) During his March 4 visit to Sonora, President Fox first cut a ribbon to commemorate the widening and repaving of the first 30 kilometers (of 85 total to be worked on) of the Hermosillo-Kino Bay highway, and then spoke at a second ceremony to mark official completion of modernization of a section of Hermosillo's Periferico Oriente beltway. Governor Eduardo Bours, a member of the PRI, and Maria Dolores Del Rio, the PAN Mayor of Hermosillo, met Fox at the airport and accompanied him to all events. ¶3. (SBU) The President showed up 40 minutes early to the first ribbon cutting, reportedly a (successful) tactic to avoid demonstrations that had been announced by the union representing the Pasta de Conchos mine, Coahuila, where 65 miners died the previous week. At a second event set in a juncture of the Periferico Oriente, with the Principal Officer among the 250 person audience and a large press contingent in attendance, Fox was introduced very warmly by Mayor del Rio, who thanked him for bringing resources to the city. Governor Bours also gave a friendly introduction, noting that Sonora had enjoyed good collaboration from the President on infrastructure funding from Mexico City. ¶4. (SBU) A passing sound truck briefly blared some of the miners' complaints about non-enforcement of labor safely rules, and two students from the University of Sonora (UNISON) with banners silently protested the lack of internal UNISON democracy in choosing the head of the law school, but the ceremony was effectively cordoned off to make any disruptive protest impossible. ¶5. (U) President Fox's speech had a short opening section directed to the local audience. He said that of the 239 million peso total cost for the infrastructure work, 105 million came from the Federal government, 105 million from Sonora state funding, and 12 million from city funds. He thanked the Governor and Mayor for their hospitality and praised Sonora for having the fastest rate of economic growth of all states in Mexico, and the highest percentage of generation of new jobs "relatively speaking." He said that the state was a model for the country of collaboration between the three levels of government and the private sector. ¶6. (U) The rest of Fox's remarks -- which took up most of his 10 minute presentation -- recounted accomplishments of his Administration, especially major infrastructure projects around Mexico and improved education, including greater use of computers and better teaching of English. He predicted that the current generation of children in school could be the last to experience poverty. He said that there would be no "Hidalgo year" as his Administration closes, a reference to a last opportunity, last minute spike in corruption and embezzlement in which some previous Mexican administrations have engaged. ¶7. (SBU) Comment: Governor Bours' attention to President Fox was in part dictated by protocol but stood in sharp contrast to his public avoidance of PRI presidential candidate Roberto Madrazo, who was in Sonora campaigning recently (reftel),and with whom he has differences. Questioned about possible implications of his relatively warm welcome of Fox, Bours denied that he had any intention of supporting Felipe Calderon, the PAN candidate. President Fox did not specifically mention Calderon or the upcoming elections in his remarks, but the local media interpreted his visit as mainly a campaign swing to bolster the PAN party image and help its candidate. Although the President's handlers avoided crowds and potential protest while in Sonora, Fox was openly charming with the press, spending more time joking with them and answering questions than he had on the official ceremony. He garnered generally favorable TV coverage that night and in the local newpapers. End Comment. CLARKE