Jorge Castañeda and Hector Aguilar Camín, set out in his new work reforms which are priorities to move the country forward.

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Jorge Castañeda and Hector Aguilar Camín presented his book “An agenda for Mexico”

Mexico City (FEB/08/2012)-touring the country with an agenda of country to offer, has been one of the bets of Jorge Castañeda Gutman and Héctor Aguilar Camín. This inseparable pairing, which shares themes of national transformation and seeking through public debate to establish a route to give sense by walking in the country, collected in the book “An agenda for Mexico” more than a program of Government, various reformist pieces that offer articulated sense. Perhaps in this lies the strength of the text of the historian and former Chancellor, the book seeks to specificity through very concrete and practicable proposals for public policies. As pointed out by the own Camín Aguilar Hector, “we are not inventing the black thread, the issues addressed are in the air, are debated constantly, programs that are have not been able to develop.”

One of additional contributions to the discussion on the future of the country have already raised Castañeda Gutman and Aguilar Camín in earlier texts from that publication in 2009 of “A future for Mexico” in Nexus Magazine, this book is the need that the next President of the Republic undertakes to send five strong signals in areas that are key to the development of the country: public investment, private investment, security, education and tax reform. For both intellectuals, simply send a message with such solid components, would be vital to drag the country through a positive spiral to regain the trust of citizens and that, alluding to the swimmers, “show that half of the body that is inscribed in modernity and clean water” says Héctor Aguilar Camín in allusion to this ambiguous Mexico that only shows the side of the fight against organised crime. In this way, note the authors of the book, “it is necessary to look at the two faces of Mexico, not only to focus on weaknesses, but see a nucleus of potential overshadowed by the discourse of insecurity”.

“We think that it should send five signals, not spectacular coups, but signs of course, that’s the innovative part of this book” conceived Aguilar Camín which are the steps that a Government must give in the first months of its management; i.e. the firmness in the speech about these constituent shafts of the new way of conceiving the development of the country, “conceptualize a gesture of seriousness to the Mexican population, but also to foreigners that we see it and hope this type of definitions”. Messages raised by the book are very clear: deepen the bet with direction and guidance for public infrastructure; send a clear signal of openness to private investment, particularly in Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex); restructuring of the security apparatus; change in the narrative of fight against organised crime; educational changes: school full-time and a computer home student; and, finally, reform tax to provide resources to the Mexican Government. The messages are very clear, however the electoral realism of a step forward: what political status could print you fortress a President to catch forward an agenda of this kind in the first 100 days?

In view of Castañeda Gutman, the power of a President to send these signals clearly comes from the possibility of having parliamentary majorities to levels of political independence. “The result will determine the possibility of joining an ambitious agenda, as happened to Vicente Fox, I hope that it does not miss the opportunity.” Well, according to Castañeda Gutman and Aguilar Camín, electoral combinations resulting from the first of July, they can cause adhesions to government projects as that “an agenda for Mexico” proposes. Similarly, for authors candidate Josefina Vázquez Mota and Enrique Peña Nieto already have shown in publications or in recent speeches, share some ideas, framed in the text, which indicate that “must wait for the candidate of Andrés Manuel López Obrador left to define in the following days a government program clear, hence know that so far is to the issues that we raised”.

The debate on foreign policy contained in the book is one of the most controversial. The position of authors about the “integration de facto” and unavoidable (in terms of economy, trade, migration, etc) that lives Mexico with United States, is a fact, as pointed out by Castañeda Gutman, “which comes not a political decision, but the way in which occurred the things, we are a country that we cannot export commodities to China or the India because we don’t have”", we have manufacturing”.

In relation to the ambiguity that live Mexico in his relationship with United States, which is a mixture of very strong links in the economic field that contrast with skepticism and distant cultural ties to Castañeda Gutman, “there are possibilities to change this attitude if we have with leadership, that we have not had neither Fox, nor with Zedillo and less with Calderon”.

Touching the issue of political reform, Castañeda Gutman, first Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the six years of Vicente Fox, said that the introduction of a mechanism to produce legislative majorities for the Executive system political Mexican, is a necessary device to paralysis of the relations between powers tests since 1997. “In an ideal world, you could build ad hoc majorities, case-by-case basis;” “However, what we have seen in the last 15 years is that this perfect world does not exist, if we think that we should establish a mechanism to help the construction of majorities”.

In conclusion, in the educational field, Aguilar Camín is convinced that changes in the education sector can be achieved regardless of the fact to agree or not with the SNTE, “there are very clear pressure conditions in favour that the educational system is reformed, a public opinion with great force driving evaluation and with its own weight creates a critical mass which calls a transformation” noted historian. However, for the PhD in history from the College of Mexico, “who become President will have to negotiate with teachers and leadership, eye: a negotiation and not overwhelm”.

PROFILES
The inseparable pair

Jorge Castañeda Gutman

He was Chancellor of Mexico in the six years of Vicente Fox, position of the Cabinet left when he began his long journey looking for a presidential candidacy citizen which ultimately denied by the Supreme Court of Justice of the nation. He is Professor of New York University and columnist in various journals of Mexico and the world. In the same way is a member of the Board of Government of Human Rights Watch, a non-governmental organization responsible for the observance of human rights at the global level. Castañeda Gutman has written more than fifteen books that have been translated into a dozen languages.

Héctor Aguilar Camín

It is Narrator, political analyst, historian and journalist. Originally from Chetumal, Quintana Roo. He received his doctorate in history from the College of Mexico.

He is currently director of Nexus Magazine and has been a columnist in many newspapers in the country. He is the author of a dozen books, particularly on historical and political phenomena. He has received various awards: the national prize of journalism in 1986; the medal Gabriel Mistral, in 2001, granted by the Government of Chile, and has been a fellow of the Guggenheim Foundation.

PHRASES

“There are very important for the country, but tremendously involuntary decisions.” “An example that is in the book is to eliminate the subsidy of petrol”
Jorge Castañeda Gutman,
former Chancellor.

“We have a proposal for the Mexico of the future, whose general traces are that we can, in the span of a generation, becoming a developed country”
Héctor Aguilar Camín,
political analyst.