Calderon vows to fight poverty

from The Dallas Fort Worth Star Telegram

By IOAN GRILLO

MEXICO CITY - President Felipe Calderon made his first tour to a dirt-poor mountain town Wednesday and announced a new program to uplift Mexico's 100 poorest communities, answering leftist critics who accuse the conservative leader of only wanting to help the rich.

Traveling by helicopter to Tlacoachistlahuaca, a community of mainly Mixtec Indians in the Pacific state of Guerrero, the newly sworn-in president promised to pave and light the town's streets, build a proper drainage system and build thousands of houses.

"Beyond the colors of political parties, there is only one Mexico, a Mexico drowned in poverty and marginalization, and a Mexico that wants politicians to get to work," Calderon told families in a dirt town square.

About 50 million Mexicans, nearly half the population, live in poverty, the main factor that drives millions to head north and look for work in the U.S.

Calderon's leftist presidential rival, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, had promised handouts and inexpensive goods to uplift the poor.

Calderon focused his campaign on law and order and job creation while painting his rival as a radical extremist who would plunge Mexico into crisis.

Speaking to the impoverished residents of Tlacoachistlahuaca, Calderon urged Mexicans to bury their differences over the election and focus on the nation's problems.

"When the differences only translate to fights, nobody wins. Fights between politicians only hurt people, especially the poor," he said.

Calderon said his anti-poverty program will draw money from several federal agencies and will be repeated in 100 towns and villages where residents live in deep poverty, often lacking roads and clean drinking water, and suffering from malnutrition and disease.

The infant mortality rate in Tlacoachistlahuaca is 80 for every 1,000 children, four times that of Mexico City, Calderon said.

Calderon, a career politician, has also pledged to cut his salary by 10 percent, answering the leftist demand that the nation's leading public servants be paid less. Mexico's politicians are among the best-paid in the world.

However, critics have accused him of being repressive after federal police arrested leftist protest leader Flavio Sosa when he was on his way to a negotiation session with national government officials Monday.

Sosa is accused of kidnapping and robbery. He was the highest-profile leader of a group of protesters who took over the center of the historic city of Oaxaca for five months while demanding the resignation of Gov. Ulises Ruiz.

Sosa denied the charges, saying he is the "first political prisoner" of Calderon's government.