Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06MEXICO5134
2006-09-11 17:58:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Mexico
Cable title:
CALDERON FOREIGN POLICY ADVISOR SARUKHAN ON
how-toVZCZCXRO7260 PP RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM DE RUEHME #5134 2541758 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 111758Z SEP 06 FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3147 INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO
C O N F I D E N T I A L MEXICO 005134
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA/MEX
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/10/2011
TAGS: MX PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: CALDERON FOREIGN POLICY ADVISOR SARUKHAN ON
TRANSITION ISSUES
Classified By: DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION LESLIE BASSETT FOR REASONS 1.4(B
) AND (D)
C O N F I D E N T I A L MEXICO 005134
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA/MEX
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/10/2011
TAGS: MX PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: CALDERON FOREIGN POLICY ADVISOR SARUKHAN ON
TRANSITION ISSUES
Classified By: DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION LESLIE BASSETT FOR REASONS 1.4(B
) AND (D)
1. (C) Summary. DCM met with President-elect Felipe Calderon
foreign policy advisor Arturo Sarukhan September 7. Sarukhan
said that during the transition, Juan Camilo Mourino would be
responsible for developing the 2007 budget with the current
government; ex-advisor to President Fox Eduardo Sojo would
look at reorganizing the cabinet and the Presidential
administration; and Josefina Vazquez Mota would negotiate
with opposition parties to form a coalition. He was
optimistic about negotiations with the Party of the
Democratic Revolution (PRD). On the bilateral relationship,
he criticized the Fox External Relations Secretariat (SRE)
for losing its central role on the bilateral agenda,
especially with respect to counternarcotics and said the
Calderon team would work to "correct the situation." End
Summary.
2. (C) DCM met briefly with Calderon foreign policy advisor
Arturo Sarukhan September 7. Sarukhan reported that Calderon
was taking a three-pronged approach to the transition.
Former National Action Party (PAN) Deputy and Undersecretary
for Electricity under Calderon, Juan Camilo Mourino was
leading the effort to liaise with secretariats and develop
the 2007 fiscal budget which will be due December 15, 2006,
two weeks after the inauguration. Former Fox Presidential
advisor Eduardo Sojo was examining the bureaucratic structure
of the cabinet and the organization at Los Pinos to recommend
changes; while former Fox Social Development Secretary,
Josefina Vazquez Mota works with Congress to build a
political coalition to support the PAN.
3. (C) The team was currently "examining different
scenarios" for congressional support for Calderon in a
process Sarukhan expected would last until inauguration day
December 1. He remained optimistic about creating a workable
governing coalition with the Institutional Revolutionary
Party (PRI) and that the PRD that would permit the
inauguration ceremony to go forward and avoid the tactics the
PRD used September 1 to prevent President Fox from presenting
his State of the Union address to Congress. While the PRD
would deny they were in discussions with the PAN, Sarukhan
pointed to three separate groups with which they were
negotiating: one led by Mexico City Mayor-elect Marcelo
Ebrhard; the PRD governors of Michoacan, Zacatecas, and
Guerrero; and the PRD congressional delegation.
4. (C) He added that negotiations with the PRD had led the
opposition protestors under PRD candidate Lopez Obrador to
say they would "return Reforma to the citizens of Mexico" by
September 14, in time for the "Grito" celebration and the
traditional September 16 military parade down the Avenue.
Sarukhan added, however, that after Calderon's September 6
decision to skirt the PRD blockade of the electoral tribunal
offices and pick up the certificate naming him the winner of
the elections after entering through the rear door,
cooperation may be set back.
5. (C) Despite the unwieldiness of having the Congressional
term start September 1, three months before the President's
inauguration. Sarukhan was hopeful that the PAN
Congressional delegation would be able to get some
initiatives passed before Calderon took office to provide him
with an "early harvest of successes" and make the "first
100-day" measure of the Calderon presidency more successful.
6. (C) Turning to foreign affairs, Sarukhan said the SRE was
"in shambles," adding that it would "not be easy to get it up
and running by December 1." On migration, Sarukhan said the
Fox's greatest mistake was mis-reading the post 9/11 shift
in U.S. opinion on the issue, and failing to respond. The
ensuing "policy vacuum" gave rise to anti-migrant rhetoric in
the media and in Congress. Allowing the SRE to abdicate its
"central role on U.S.-Mexico bilateral issues, especially in
counternarcotics" that had been achieved through the
"High-level Contact Group" was a significant error, and
Calderon's SRE would have to work to make up this "lost
ground."
Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity
GARZA
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA/MEX
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/10/2011
TAGS: MX PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: CALDERON FOREIGN POLICY ADVISOR SARUKHAN ON
TRANSITION ISSUES
Classified By: DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION LESLIE BASSETT FOR REASONS 1.4(B
) AND (D)
1. (C) Summary. DCM met with President-elect Felipe Calderon
foreign policy advisor Arturo Sarukhan September 7. Sarukhan
said that during the transition, Juan Camilo Mourino would be
responsible for developing the 2007 budget with the current
government; ex-advisor to President Fox Eduardo Sojo would
look at reorganizing the cabinet and the Presidential
administration; and Josefina Vazquez Mota would negotiate
with opposition parties to form a coalition. He was
optimistic about negotiations with the Party of the
Democratic Revolution (PRD). On the bilateral relationship,
he criticized the Fox External Relations Secretariat (SRE)
for losing its central role on the bilateral agenda,
especially with respect to counternarcotics and said the
Calderon team would work to "correct the situation." End
Summary.
2. (C) DCM met briefly with Calderon foreign policy advisor
Arturo Sarukhan September 7. Sarukhan reported that Calderon
was taking a three-pronged approach to the transition.
Former National Action Party (PAN) Deputy and Undersecretary
for Electricity under Calderon, Juan Camilo Mourino was
leading the effort to liaise with secretariats and develop
the 2007 fiscal budget which will be due December 15, 2006,
two weeks after the inauguration. Former Fox Presidential
advisor Eduardo Sojo was examining the bureaucratic structure
of the cabinet and the organization at Los Pinos to recommend
changes; while former Fox Social Development Secretary,
Josefina Vazquez Mota works with Congress to build a
political coalition to support the PAN.
3. (C) The team was currently "examining different
scenarios" for congressional support for Calderon in a
process Sarukhan expected would last until inauguration day
December 1. He remained optimistic about creating a workable
governing coalition with the Institutional Revolutionary
Party (PRI) and that the PRD that would permit the
inauguration ceremony to go forward and avoid the tactics the
PRD used September 1 to prevent President Fox from presenting
his State of the Union address to Congress. While the PRD
would deny they were in discussions with the PAN, Sarukhan
pointed to three separate groups with which they were
negotiating: one led by Mexico City Mayor-elect Marcelo
Ebrhard; the PRD governors of Michoacan, Zacatecas, and
Guerrero; and the PRD congressional delegation.
4. (C) He added that negotiations with the PRD had led the
opposition protestors under PRD candidate Lopez Obrador to
say they would "return Reforma to the citizens of Mexico" by
September 14, in time for the "Grito" celebration and the
traditional September 16 military parade down the Avenue.
Sarukhan added, however, that after Calderon's September 6
decision to skirt the PRD blockade of the electoral tribunal
offices and pick up the certificate naming him the winner of
the elections after entering through the rear door,
cooperation may be set back.
5. (C) Despite the unwieldiness of having the Congressional
term start September 1, three months before the President's
inauguration. Sarukhan was hopeful that the PAN
Congressional delegation would be able to get some
initiatives passed before Calderon took office to provide him
with an "early harvest of successes" and make the "first
100-day" measure of the Calderon presidency more successful.
6. (C) Turning to foreign affairs, Sarukhan said the SRE was
"in shambles," adding that it would "not be easy to get it up
and running by December 1." On migration, Sarukhan said the
Fox's greatest mistake was mis-reading the post 9/11 shift
in U.S. opinion on the issue, and failing to respond. The
ensuing "policy vacuum" gave rise to anti-migrant rhetoric in
the media and in Congress. Allowing the SRE to abdicate its
"central role on U.S.-Mexico bilateral issues, especially in
counternarcotics" that had been achieved through the
"High-level Contact Group" was a significant error, and
Calderon's SRE would have to work to make up this "lost
ground."
Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity
GARZA