Alberto Díaz-Cayeros on Calderon’s Approach to Eliminating Poverty
Next president faces huge task
12/28/2011
Rachel Uranga,
The News
MEXICO CITY – When President Felipe Calderón came to power five years ago, he pledged to cut rampant poverty in Mexico. Instead, millions more have joined the ranks of the poor.
A battle over how to tackle poverty, which is blamed for stunting Mexico's economic development is already raging between candidates competing to succeed Calderón in a July presidential election.
From left to right, they have vowed to find a way of addressing chronically weak tax revenues, a failing education system, and the vast concentration of wealth in few hands.
But with more than a quarter of the economy off the books, the task facing the next president is huge.
Mexico is home to world's richest man, Carlos Slim. At the end of last year, he was worth around $74 billion, according to Forbes magazine. That's equivalent to roughly 6.6 percent of Mexico's annual economic output.
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Alberto Díaz-Cayeros is an Associate Professor of International Relations and Pacific Studies and Director of the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies (USMEX).
