Farewell to Fox: He was more democrat than statesman
Dallas Morning News: When Mexico's President-elect Vicente Fox and GOP presidential nominee George W. Bush met at the University of Texas at Dallas in August 2000, there was excitement that the pair could become as symbiotic as Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. They shared concerns about this hemisphere. They believed their nations' destinies were linked. And they spoke the same language about open markets and political freedom.
But the Bush-Fox relationship never lived up to its potential, a description that symbolizes the entire Fox presidency, which ends Friday with Felipe Calderon's inauguration.
Tall and handsome, the maverick Fox broke down the doors of the political elite, allowing his National Action Party (PAN) to capture the presidency after decades of rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
Seizing the moment
Fox built on what was a huge moment in Mexico's history and defined his country's move toward more transparent government. He leaves the presidency at a time when Mexico's economy is growing, inflation is under control and the peso is stable. And Texans especially appreciate that he finally got Mexico to repay its water debt to the Rio Grande.
Still, the Fox presidency didn't produce as many successes as envisioned.
The PAN leader never was able to negotiate with congressional opponents to open up state-run industries. Urban unemployment doubled in his six years, and Mexicans kept leaving in large numbers. Drug cartels started shooting at will along the border and in some coastal towns. And the Fox dream for an immigration pact with the U.S. fell apart, partly after he broke with Bush on Iraq.
These failures limited the Fox revolution. He was undoubtedly a pivotal figure in Mexico's history, much as Reagan and Franklin Roosevelt were here. Yet he didn't leave a legacy that will guide the next 30 years. He may have broken the back of the ruling PRI, but he couldn't jump-start an entire country.