BY KELLY ARTHUR GARRETT
The News
When former New Mexico Governor and U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson returned to the Mexico City of his boyhood this week, he emphasized Mexico’s role as a growing economic player in the hemisphere.
“Mexico is the sexy country in the world right now — de veras,” he said. “You go to a conference and everybody wants to know about Mexico. I like to hear that. It makes me feel proud.”
That pride is no mere gesture to a friendly neighbor. Richardson’s mother was Mexican, and though he was born in the United States, he was raised in Mexico until age 13, when he was sent to boarding school in Massachusetts. Years later, as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, he was a staunch supporter of a more respectful relationship with his former country of residence at a time when few in Congress saw things his way.
“For years, all I’d hear from my colleagues was that Mexico was a third world country, that it was corrupt, that nothing happened there except violence,” said Richardson, 66. “I got sick of all that.”
The former governor, who vied for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 against Hillary Clinton, Joseph Biden and eventual winner Barack Obama, was an early supporter of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which he considers the beginning of Mexico’s economic maturity, as well as its improved image and growing trade with the United States.
“Today I see the the relationship between Mexico and the United States to be on a more equal footing,” he said. “It’s not just about security. It’s about commerce, economic development, technology transfers, student exchange, regional issues.”
He sees Mexico’s economic growth as set to take off, and credits the recent reforms promoted by President Enrique Peña Nieto, with whom he has a friendly relationship as paving the way for that expected growth.
“I’m pro-Mexico and pro-this president,” he said, referring to Peña Nieto. “There’s going to be a real spike in trade and commerce because of the energy and telecommunications reforms especially. And that means jobs for both countries.”
Richardson praised Peña Nieto, with whom he has a friendly relationship, for taking the political risk of pushing through the energy reform against opposition concerns that it would jeopardize national sovereignty while possibly giving away Mexico’s oil patrimony to the private sector.
“It’s not privatization,” Richardson insisted. “Nobody’s going to steal Pemex. That’s not going to happen.”
What it is instead, according to Richardson, is the beginning of a more productive energy policy. “There will be more renewable energy,” he said. “There will be more deep sea drilling and shale gas, which if done properly will be environmentally suitable. There will be Mexican capital investing in Mexican energy, and I think that is an important potential development.”
Richardson, who served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during the Bill Clinton administration, said he sees Mexico assuming more of a hemispheric leadership role in the near future.
“Right now our (the United States’) relationship with countries like Ecuador, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia are not as good as they should be,” he said. “Mexico has a great tradition of diplomats. It could serve as a bridge to a more united hemisphere.”
The next step, he said, could be Mexican leadership on a global scale. “In 20 or 25 years, Mexico should consider pushing for a seat on the United Nations Security Council alongside the world’s great powers,” he said.
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