BATTERED by unprecedented criminal violence and an economy sharply contracting, Mexico receives some relief this week when US President Barack Obama visits to support its fight against drug cartels. The Mexican economy, heavily dependent on exports to the United States, is in recession and oil reserves are drying up. President Felipe Calderon's government is struggling to contain widespread violence by drug gangs, sparking talk abroad of Mexico as a failed state. While such language may be exaggerated, Mexico is at its lowest point since the mid-1990s when the Zapatista rebellion of Maya Indians, the murder of a ruling party presidential candidate and financial collapse rocked the country. Obama, in his first visit to Latin America, will offer strong backing to Calderon, whose National Action Party has swung Mexico closer to the United States after it ended 71 years of one-party rule in 2000. “President Obama is coming to a country that is clearly looking for some sort of hand holding in the midst of a very testing period in our history,” said Rossana Fuentes-Berain, of the Spanish-language version of Foreign Affairs magazine. The Obama administration is tightening the US-Mexico border to prevent trafficking of US guns to Mexican cartels and is hoping to send Black Hawk helicopters to help Calderon defeat well-armed cartels that killed 6,300 people last year in turf wars. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton soothed Mexico when she acknowledged last month that the violence was partly the fault of Americans and their “insatiable demand” for drugs. With increased US backing, Mexicans are more optimistic that Calderon can defeat drug lords who have defied a military campaign against them since 2006. “We are confident that once the United States reinforces border security then criminal acts can start to drop,” said Fernando Ocegueda Flores, an anti-crime activist in Tijuana. Mexican officials want Washington to reinstate a ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004. Some 90 percent of weapons used by Mexican gangs like the Gulf and Sinaloa cartels come from the United States, Mexican police say. Economic trouble There is little that Obama, struggling with recession at home, can do to pull Mexico out of a slump in its economy, which is set to shrink by more than 3 percent this year. But he might want to assure Calderon that Washington is not turning protectionist despite measures like the banning in March of Mexican trucks from US highways and the “Buy American” clause in the economic stimulus package. Mexico, a partner with Canada and the United States in the 1994 NAFTA trade pact, sends 80 percent of its exports to its northern neighbor. “It's important for Mexico, as Canada has already done, to express a firm rejection of protectionist measures,” said Ricardo Gonzalez Sada of the Coparmex business group. Mexico fears the possible bankruptcy of General Motors might add to the already soaring unemployment levels in Mexico where the automaker has four major plants. “We are worried about General Motors, we are worried about Buy American,” said Sen. Luis Alberto Villarreal. Obama is reported to want to resurrect attempts to reform US immigration laws, possibly giving millions of Mexican illegal immigrants the change to regularize their status. Former President George W. Bush raised Mexican hopes of an immigration overhaul but Congress failed to deliver. Expectations that Obama will loosen immigration laws are low. “On immigration, I think that is going to be a little more problematic. It isn't as urgent and pressing as the security situation,” said Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank in Washington.
