CALDERON AT MOUNT SINAI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MEXICO 003069

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR MX
SUBJECT: CALDERON AT MOUNT SINAI

REF: MEXICO 2367


1. (U) Summary: On May 31, Felipe Calderon, presidential
candidate of the ruling National Action Party (PAN),
addressed over 500 members of Mexico,s Jewish community, the
first of the three major presidential candidates to publicly
appear before this community. In his remarks, Calderon
focused on economic policy, public security, and the rule of
law, saving his harshest criticisms for the recent
anti-poverty proposals of challenger Andres Manuel Lopez
Obrador (AMLO) of the Party of the Democratic Revolution
(PRD). Distancing himself from President Fox's troubled
relations with Congress, Calderon pledged that if elected,
his first priority would be to form a stable and enduring
legislative coalition. He also reaffirmed his strong support
for keeping religion out of politics and his commitment to
fighting ethnic discrimination. He lamented Mexico,s
tradition of reflexively supporting anti-Israel resolutions
in international fora, pledging that under a Calderon
administration, Mexico would end that practice and consider
each Middle East-related resolution on its own merits. The
warm welcome accorded Calderon -- his remarks were punctuated
on several occasions by standing ovations -- demonstrated he
clearly had overcome any lingering wariness in the Jewish
community on account of the PAN's perceived past relationship
with conservative elements within the Catholic church. End
Summary.


2. (U) Calderon's appearance at the Mount Sinai Jewish
School was the first public appearance by a major
presidential candidate before members of the Mexican Jewish
community this year; AMLO is scheduled to appear on June 12
and PRI candidate Roberto Madrazo has promised to appear as
well. During the event, Calderon turned in an energetic,
upbeat performance before an enthusiastic crowd. The
candidate spoke largely off-the-cuff for some 20 minutes,
addressing such issues as economic policy, public security
and the rule of law, before taking questions from the
audience.

AMLO,s Economic Numbers Do Not Add Up
--------------


3. (U) Largely ignoring third place contender Roberto
Madrazo of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI),
Calderon contrasted his free market-oriented economic
platform -- which he characterized as forward-looking -- with
the allegedly statist model proposed by AMLO. He argued that
AMLO,s economic proposals are the same that have been tried
-- and have failed -- throughout Latin America. He denounced
AMLO,s recently-announced plan to raise the real wages of
Mexico,s poorest citizens by 20 percent, saying it would
cost the GOM as much as ten percent of annual GDP and cripple
the economy. Calderon added that AMLO,s proposals for other
major public works projects, such as a long-distance bullet
train and oil refineries, would leave the country deeply in
debt and generate inflation, which would hurt Mexico,s poor
most of all. Emphasizing Mexico's need to restore economic
competitiveness, Calderon argued that the country,s
inefficient energy monopolies were strangling economic
growth.

Overhaul Required to Address Public Security
--------------


4. (U) Calderon said that reforming Mexico's dysfunctional
law enforcement apparatus and restoring public security would
be among the most serious challenges facing his
administration. To illustrate the point, he asked members of
the audience to raise their hands if they or a family member
had fallen victim to a crime in Mexico City: approximately 75
percent raised their hands. He asserted that Mexico's crime
problem was partly a cultural one, insofar as there is a
tradition in Mexico of disrespect for the rule of law. He
singled out corruption as being a key factor underlying the
poor state of public security, asserting that corruption in
the political class and among law enforcement personnel has
created an environment of impunity. He said that he would
seek a comprehensive reform of the justice sector, ranging
from crime prevention to criminal rehabilitation. At the
core of the plan would be a fundamental reform of the police,
placing the GOM's numerous autonomous police forces under a
single command. He also proposed raising and harmonizing
hiring standards, enhancing professional training and
improving salaries. He advocating creating a mechanism by
which citizens would oversee the work of police, to ensure
the transparency and effectiveness of law enforcement.


5. (U) In addition to overhauling the law enforcement

MEXICO 00003069 002 OF 002


apparatus, Calderon proposed a number of statutory reforms.
He noted, for example, that anyone filing criminal charges
has to provide their full name and current home address and
they have no assurances that their information will not get
back into the hands of the accused; this deters many crime
victims from reporting crimes and should be repealed. He also
railed against statutory minimum sentences, arguing that too
many judges simply applied this minimum to avoid legal
challenges. Calderon endorsed life sentences for kidnappers,
although in response to an audience question, he reiterated
his opposition to the death penalty. He advocated greater
use of high-technology in preventing and solving crimes,
including the creation of a central database to maintain
fingerprints, ballistics, DNA, and arrest records. When
asked about the controversial recent bill decriminalizing
drug use (reftel) he said he opposed decriminalizing drug
use, even if the GOM's focus should be on the prevention and
treatment of drug abuse, and the prosecution of
drug-traffickers.

Calderon to Seek Governing Coalition
--------------


6. (U) In an implicit critique of President Fox's poor
relationship with Congress, Calderon pledged that if he were
elected without achieving a PAN legislative majority, his
first priority would be to form a stable and permanent
governing coalition, and that he was willing to do the
personal politicking necessary to form such a coalition. He
referred approvingly to the custom of Colombian President
Alvaro Uribe of breakfasting with different legislators every
day, in order to maintain a working relationship between the
executive and legislative branches. Alluding to the possible
inclusion of representatives of other parties in his cabinet,
Calderon added that he was willing to share the
responsibilities of governing.

Calderon Distances Himself From PAN's Past
--------------


7. (U) The candidate received a standing ovation when he
declared that Mexico must remain a secular society in which
religion and politics do not mix. He said that combating
discrimination would be a priority of his administration and
that he would increase funding for the National Council
Against Discrimination. He faulted the Fox Administration
for allegedly responding with insufficient vigor to last
year's anti-Semitic incident targeting former Director of the
Mexican Social Security Institute Santiago Levy.

Candidate Regrets Mexican Middle East Policy
--------------


8. (U) Answering an audience question about Mexican
relations with Israel, Calderon said there had been "a
terrible deficiency" in Mexico,s Middle East policy,
epitomized by the GOM's history of reflexively supporting
anti-Israel resolutions in international fora. He said that
if he were elected, the GOM would no longer maintain an a
priori position on Middle East-related resolutions and would
consider each one on its own merits. He strongly condemned
the decision by former President Luis Echevarria (1970-76) to
support the infamous "Zionism is racism" resolution at the
UN, an act he called "anti-Semitic."

Comment: Calderon Connects...With Core Constituency
-------------- --------------


9. (SBU) Comment: Calderon's engaging performance at this
event and the warm welcome he was accorded suggests he has
overcome any lingering wariness within the Jewish community
-- and perhaps among other non-Catholics -- on account of the
PAN's historic association with conservative elements within
the Catholic church. Calderon's gains in this constituency
undoubtedly come more at the expense of Roberto Madrazo than
of AMLO. Of course, in many respects, the well-educated,
upper-middle class audience represented a home team crowd for
Calderon, and we would have been surprised if he were not
well-received. The ultimate success of his campaign will
depend not on whether he can connect in Mexico's prosperous
suburbs, but whether he can connect with the majority of
Mexicans who prosperity has left behind.


Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity

GARZA