Diplomatic relations between Mexico and Venezuela seem to have become a sort of sequel to the famous Mexican film �Dos tipos de cuidado� (Two Dangerous Fellows) [*]. President Felipe Calder�n even went so far as to imitate one of the most memorable moments in the film, the scene where Pedro Infante and Jorge Negrete engage in an intense singing duel. Just last Friday, taking on the role of Jorge Negrete, the man from Michoacan dedicated a verse to Hugo Ch�vez: �We know not here such braggarts, but if needs be, a mighty will can fill our hearts.�

The Mexican leader seems to be obsessed with the president of Venezuela. Time and again he has tried to portray him as some new empire of evil. During the election campaign last year, he sought to undermine his opponent Andr�s Manuel L�pez Obrador by comparing him to Ch�vez. He once again lashed out at the Venezuelan without mentioning him by name early this year in El Salvador. During his recent trip to Europe, he went all out against Ch�vez.

Sources say that the Mexican�s aim is to spark a debate of ideas on the merits of free trade and the dangers of populism and state control. But it is striking how little substance can be found in Calder�n�s attacks on the process of change in Venezuela. He does rely, however, on the dense cloud of lies and half-truths that�s been floating around about that country and distorting reality rather than explaining it.

Is it true that the Venezuelan economy is going off the rails and that is president is driving to country into hideous poverty? No, it isn�t. In opposition to the Washington Consensus, the Bolivarian Revolution has set in motion a series of highly successful policies. Oil revenue has been channelled into programs for education, health, subsidized food, diversification of industry and job creation. According to Joseph Stiglitz, Ch�vez "seems to have had success bringing health and education to the neighbourhoods of Caracas, where people had previously seen little benefit from the country�s rich petroleum resources.� (translated from Spanish).

The results are plain to see. The minimum wage in Venezuela is now $220 (along with benefits like a 3-month bonus) when just a few years ago it was barely $100. It is one of the highest in Latin America, and well above that received by Mexican workers: $137.

Venezuela can boast of the highest economic growth rate in South American in the last three years, nearly double the regional average. In 2004, the GDP grew by 17.3%. A year later, it grew by 9.3% and in 2006 by 10.3%. Projections for 2007 suggest it could grow by another 6%. This economic boom has gone hand-in-hand with high rates of employment, a significant recovery of real wages and a 17% increase in consumption.

If we measure Venezuela�s progress according to the UN�s Human Development Index, we�ll find that the country went from 75th place in 2005 to 72nd a year later. Life expectancy is now 73 years, and adult literacy is now an impressive 93%. Infant mortality has dropped to 16 for every thousand births. The poverty level fell from 55.1% in 2003 to 33.9% by the first quarter of 2006.

Despite Chavez�s nationalist rhetoric, the existing restrictions and Calder�n�s call to transnational capital to leave Venezuela and come to Mexico, direct foreign investment keeps pouring into the Bolivarian Republic. In 2005, it increased by 85%. By the next year, it accounted for 4% of Venezuela�s GDP. Although the country�s trade relations have become more diversified, the United States is still the number one foreign investor.

Trade between Mexico and Venezuela totals $4 billion a year, of which $3.2 billion are exports from Mexico and $800 million from Venezuela. Investment by Mexican companies in Caracas are weighty: a total of $32 billion. Mexico�s biggest investors in the South American country are Bimbo, Cemex and FEMSA. Diplomatic quarrels won�t stop all this.

So if Calder�n�s criticism of Venezuela is unfounded, why does he keep it up?

Although his �debate of ideas� against Hugo Ch�vez has an international dimension and his obsession with the personage is real, his true objective is domestic policy. Nobody believes that these broadsides can win the Mexican president any influence in Latin America. Even Lula told him to �calm down� in Davos. What he really needs is ideological reinforcement for his plans to privatize both the energy sector and the State workers pension fund.

To be able to forge ahead with his proposals, Calder�n needs to drive home the idea that neo-liberal reforms are an irreversible process, that there is no alternative but to deepen them, and that giving up now will only bring the country to the brink of economic chaos. Indeed, he is compelled to invent a scapegoat who to personify his warnings. Given that the Venezuelan experience in fact fully disproves Calderon�s message, he believes that distorting that model will help him discredit all who oppose his privatization plans in Mexico. And if he has to pay a diplomatic price in the process, he�s ready to do that.

In view of all this, the target of this dangerous fellow�s rudeness is not only Hugo Ch�vez as such, but the anti-neo-liberal opposition in Mexico, i.e., all those opposed to auctioning off public goods for private profit. The President's next step in pushing ahead with his reforms will be to act out a sequel to the rhetorical dirty war he started under the guidance of his businessman overlords in the 2006 electoral campaign.

� Copyright 2007 by AxisofLogic.com (Translation copyright)

Note: [*] Pedro Infante (1917-1957) and Jorge Negrete (1911-1953) were two of the most famous Mexican �ranchera� singers and movie actors of all times. They appeared together in Ismael Rodr�guez�s 1952 film �Dos tipos de cuidado�, called �Two Dangerous Fellows� in English. Readers can watch the song �fight� the author is alluding to on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=666lnbuiDcw

Original Source in Spanish: La Jornada

Luis Hern�ndez Navarro is Opinion Coordinator at the Mexican journal �La Jornada� and a member of the Centro de Estudios para el Cambio en el Campo Mexicano. He is an analyst at the IRC Americas Program: www.americaspolicy.org.

 
Tlaxcala - James Hollander and Manuel Talens are members of Tlaxcala, the network of translators for linguistic diversity. This translation can be freely reproduced provided its author, its translators and the source are mentioned.