IHT : Felipe Calderon, conservative candidate undergoing a political makeover as president-elect

Felipe Calderon, conservative candidate undergoing a political makeover as president-elect

The Associated Press | September 5, 2006

MEXICO CITY President-elect Felipe Calderon, a pro-business lawyer who has pledged to continue his predecessor's free-market policies, is undergoing a moderate makeover with promises to focus more of his conservative party's attention on the millions of Mexico's poor whom his liberal opponent claims to represent.

"From the government, we are going to pass them on the left," Calderon said of losing candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and his supporters. He said his policies would be centered on bettering the plight of poor families — Lopez Obrador's mantra.

The makeover began shortly after the disputed July 2 elections, when Calderon — leading by less than 1 percent after an initial vote count — asked those who had supported Lopez Obrador to give him a chance to show that he too could provide social policies aimed at lessening poverty and increasing equality.

A lawyer with a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University, Calderon is a member of the National Action Party, or PAN, founded in 1939 by a group of politicians including his father.

In 2000, the party, with Vicente Fox as its presidential candidate, became the first to end 71 years of single-party, authoritarian rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.

Calderon is opposed to abortion and the legalization of drugs, and has promised to wield a "firm hand" against crime, a pledge applauded by the business community.

He also has said he would promote private investment to build a strong economy. Now he has modified that vision, focusing on how such private investment can generate jobs and help fight the poverty still afflicting more than 40 million of Mexico's 103 million people.

Born on Aug. 18, 1962, in the central state of Michoacan, Calderon has spent most of his life in politics. He was national youth secretary for the PAN, and secretary-general and national president of the party from 1996 to 1999.

He served as federal congressman twice. As the PAN's leader in the lower House of Congress he tried to push a series of reforms promoted by President Fox that included taxing food and medicine, and allowing ample private investment in the oil sector — reforms that failed to clear congressional opposition. Fox named him energy secretary in September 2003, but he stepped down less than a year later to run for president.

Calderon had to overcome a series of obstacles on his path to the presidency, including not being favored by Fox, who chastised him for leaving his Cabinet post and launching what the president said was a premature campaign.

During the race, which officially began in January, Calderon mounted a campaign that not only trumpeted his strengths, but also undermined Lopez Obrador's image, portraying him as "a danger" for Mexico who would operate much like Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

The campaign helped him close a gap between himself and Lopez Obrador that at one point had the leftist a full 10 points ahead.

The father of three children, Calderon is married to Margarita Zavala, a former-federal congresswoman for the PAN who left her seat in the lower House earlier this year to join her husband's campaign.


MEXICO CITY President-elect Felipe Calderon, a pro-business lawyer who has pledged to continue his predecessor's free-market policies, is undergoing a moderate makeover with promises to focus more of his conservative party's attention on the millions of Mexico's poor whom his liberal opponent claims to represent.

"From the government, we are going to pass them on the left," Calderon said of losing candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and his supporters. He said his policies would be centered on bettering the plight of poor families — Lopez Obrador's mantra.

The makeover began shortly after the disputed July 2 elections, when Calderon — leading by less than 1 percent after an initial vote count — asked those who had supported Lopez Obrador to give him a chance to show that he too could provide social policies aimed at lessening poverty and increasing equality.

A lawyer with a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University, Calderon is a member of the National Action Party, or PAN, founded in 1939 by a group of politicians including his father.

In 2000, the party, with Vicente Fox as its presidential candidate, became the first to end 71 years of single-party, authoritarian rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.

Calderon is opposed to abortion and the legalization of drugs, and has promised to wield a "firm hand" against crime, a pledge applauded by the business community.

He also has said he would promote private investment to build a strong economy. Now he has modified that vision, focusing on how such private investment can generate jobs and help fight the poverty still afflicting more than 40 million of Mexico's 103 million people.

Born on Aug. 18, 1962, in the central state of Michoacan, Calderon has spent most of his life in politics. He was national youth secretary for the PAN, and secretary-general and national president of the party from 1996 to 1999.

He served as federal congressman twice. As the PAN's leader in the lower House of Congress he tried to push a series of reforms promoted by President Fox that included taxing food and medicine, and allowing ample private investment in the oil sector — reforms that failed to clear congressional opposition. Fox named him energy secretary in September 2003, but he stepped down less than a year later to run for president.

Calderon had to overcome a series of obstacles on his path to the presidency, including not being favored by Fox, who chastised him for leaving his Cabinet post and launching what the president said was a premature campaign.

During the race, which officially began in January, Calderon mounted a campaign that not only trumpeted his strengths, but also undermined Lopez Obrador's image, portraying him as "a danger" for Mexico who would operate much like Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

The campaign helped him close a gap between himself and Lopez Obrador that at one point had the leftist a full 10 points ahead.

The father of three children, Calderon is married to Margarita Zavala, a former-federal congresswoman for the PAN who left her seat in the lower House earlier this year to join her husband's campaign.