| THE MAN WHO DARED TO CHANGE MEXICO |
| Written by Maria Elena Salinas |
| Monday, January 20 2003 |
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| Jorge Castañeda has many qualities fit for a foreign minister. He is an intellectual, speaks at least four languages and holds degrees from Princeton and the University of Paris. He is an internationally renowned scholar and political analyst. He's well-traveled, with an imposing knowledge of world affairs. However, there is one characteristic he seems to lack for Mexico's top diplomatic job -- diplomacy.
Castañeda, you see, is a man who speaks his mind. While there are those who consider him arrogant and a bit abrasive at times -- mostly the Mexican media and old-guard politicians -- others see him as a bold reformer who was willing to take risks in order to make his country a player, not just an observer, in the international arena.
Castañeda's resignation as Mexico's foreign minister has caused quite a commotion in that country and abroad, not only because it was the first major change in President Vicente Fox's government, but because he has been the first foreign minister to shake things up in a country that's used to the status quo. Castañeda tried to modify Mexico's nationalistic-protectionist, non-intervention, "don't mess with us and we won't mess with you" type of attitude.
He was an outsider, a left-leaning academic, journalist and author, who joined forces with Fox -- a conservative businessman -- to end seven decades of rule by the Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI). His agenda was clear from the beginning. In his book "Bordering on Chaos," veteran journalist Andres Oppenheimer cites a plan presented to Fox by Castañeda a year and a half before the July 2000 presidential elections. The proposal included strategies on how to turn around Mexico's outdated foreign policy. The document turned out to be a blueprint for what would become Fox's formula for change, with Castañeda at his side.
In the 25 months he headed the foreign ministry, Castañeda -- whose father held the same job more than 20 years ago -- left his mark. Among other things, he secured a nonvoting seat for Mexico in the U.N. Security Council. But some of his accomplishments were seen as a sellout by nationalistic anti-American forces. Those who criticize his approach toward Mexico's foreign policy welcome his demise. But those who feel that Mexico needed to be more open and proactive see his departure as a setback for the country.
For example, Castañeda transformed Mexico's traditionally close friendship with Cuba by daring to criticize Fidel Castro's record on human rights, upsetting the left political sector of Mexico's government. He also transformed the neighborly but cool relationship with the United States into a working partnership that elevated the immigration issue to the presidential level. Never before had an American head of state considered finding ways to legalize the status of undocumented Mexican workers in the United States. President Bush did, in the pre-9/11 era.
One of the reasons for Castañeda's resignation is precisely the difficulty he had in reviving negotiations about the immigration issue, given the new rules of the game in the war against terrorism. The foreign ministry was no longer the place where he could accomplish his agenda. He needed a new forum, and you can be sure he will find one and not limit himself to going back to the comfort and security of a university campus.
In the end, Castañeda might be seen as the man who brought Mexico's foreign policy out of the dark ages and into the 21st century.
It is still unclear whether the new foreign minister, former World Bank economist Luis Ernesto Derbez, will continue Castañeda's efforts to modernize Mexico's image and position abroad, or whether he'll return to the long tradition of foreign ministers who were yes men to their commander in chief. We will have to wait and see if he will stand up for human rights, democracy and closer ties to the United States, or if he will redirect the interests of his country and its role in the international arena. |
