cont. from front page,

Attended mainly by students and economists, the conference was conducted by Ángel Buendía Tirado, president of the Colegio Nacional de Economistas (National Union of Economists), Senator José Calzada Rovirosa, secretary of the Hacienda Commission of the Senate, and Arturo Muñoz Villalobos, president of the Union of Economists of Querétaro.

They spoke about issues affecting the Mexican economy, such as the PEMEX reform, the impact of the US economic crisis and the Mexican economic model.

Senator Calzada said that the PEMEX reform was “the result of the work and talent of several people and gives Mexico a series of issues to work out.” According to Muñoz Villalobos PEMEX’s tax structure “has been bleeding the company and has obstructed its modernization and the reinvestment of its assets.” He noted that 1.2 million Mexicans are unemployed and there are jobs for only 400,000. “The PEMEX reform will generate 300,000 additional jobs,” said Calzada.

Impact on Mexico

The experts agreed that the US economic crisis will affect the Mexican economy in four major ways. 

First, the remittances Mexican workers in the US send back home will decrease. These remittances reactivate the economy in several regions of the country. The decrease will severely impact the economic situation of families who depend on them for their subsistence. Buendía noted that the crisis will also cause the firing of thousands of Mexican workers abroad. 

Second, foreign investment in Mexico will decrease by 20 to 30 percent. “Eighty percent of our commercial relations are with the United States,” said Buendía. 

Third, tourism is expected to decrease. “The United States is our major tourism consumer,” noted the economist. 

Fourth, jobs in the auto industry are expected to decline by 30 percent. 

Buendía and Calzada agreed that the election of a new US president is an opportunity for Mexico to renew its relations with that country. “I was asked, before the election, which of the two candidates I thought would be better for Mexico. My answer was that neither of them would be. I have a great sympathy for the youth and strength of Barack Obama. However, Americans do not have friends, they only have interests. The change in government is an opportunity for Mexico to renew our agreements in more convenient terms for Mexico.”

US–Mexican relations

Calzada mentioned three aspects of US–Mexican relations that must be reconsidered. “We need to review the immigration issue to protect our people. Hundreds of Mexicans died trying to cross the border.

The fight against drug trade and organized crime is not only our problem—it involves both countries. The renewal of marketing agreements is urgent. An agreement negotiated in 1992 that went into effect in 1994 cannot remain static. We are constantly reviewing the constitution to bring it in line with current social circumstances; everything changes except the agreements.”

According to Muñoz Villalobos the recent devaluation of the Mexican peso indicates the weakness of the Mexican economy. “A few months ago we had a strong peso, and suddenly its value fell 40 percent (from 10 to 14 pesos per dollar); this is an indicator that our macro-economic indicators are still weak. 

Buendía said that the current Mexican economic model has not been effective for the past 25 years. After all this time, we are still unable to generate the jobs the country needs. “There is monumental evidence that the economic model is incapable of fulfilling the requirements of Mexicans. We are champions of commercial opportunities; we hurry to sign every commercial agreement other countries propose. We have signed more than 40, and as a result we are showing a deficit in most of them, and each time we are less competitive. We must demand that the government examine this economic model. The economists’ union is proposing that producers, legislators and unions work together to present a viable plan to the government.” 

According to Buendía, lack of regulation is the cause of the crisis. “We were told that regulations restrained the international market, and now we are in crisis due to this lack of oversight. Thanks to the avarice of a few, profits are privatized and losses are socialized. This is the sad and shameful result of 25 years with a useless model.”

Senator Calzada said that another cause of the economic crisis in Mexico is the inefficient tax collection system. “There are companies that evade paying taxes; some of them pay only 70 pesos in taxes a year,” he said. “The senate is working to change the tax laws so that all companies pay the proper tax.” 

Buendía’s advice to all middle-class Mexican families was save money, find new jobs and work more in order to confront the coming crisis. 

Mexican interior secretary dies in plane crash
Compiled by Atención staff

Juan Camilo Mouriño, interior secretary (equivalent to vice president), and Mexico’s former chief drug prosecutor José Luis Santiago Vasconcelos were among eight passengers who died in a spectacular plane crash in Mexico City on November 5.

The government plane came down in Mexico City’s main street, Paseo de la Reforma, during rush hour. Official sources claim at least 14 people on the ground died and at least 40 more were injured. Mexico’s main media followed the event live, devoting hours of coverage to the burning wreckage and interviews with government officials. Mouriño, 37, was one of President Calderón’s closest friends and advisors. The young politician was part of a team of negotiators that promoted the Pemex reforms that would allow private and foreign investment in the long-standing monopoly, which recently were passed.

President Calderón asserted that the cause of the crash would be investigated completely. Luis Tellez, communication and transportation secretary, was quoted as saying, “The investigation has not revealed any sign of an explosive substance. An explosion did not cause the aircraft to crash.”

Mexican, American and British researchers are working together to retrieve information from the plane’s two black boxes. The final results are expected to be ready in 11 months. 

President Calderón has appointed Fernando Gómez Mont as the interior secretary. Gómez, a criminal lawyer, has worked independently and as a consultant, defending such clients as former president Carlos Salinas, the former director of Pemex and the Canal 40 TV network.

According to Reuters.com, “Gómez Mont was a surprise choice, not being from Calderón’s inner circle. Both men, however, graduated from the same prestigious Mexico City law school. Calderón praised Gómez for “his extensive knowledge of criminal law, which will be very useful in this stage of implementing constitutional reforms in security and justice.” The new interior secretary is a member of the executive committee of PAN (National Action Party) and a partner in the prestigious Mexico City law firm Zinser Esponda y Gómez Mont and was a congressman in the early nineties. 

As Gómez was sworn into office he affirmed he would continue the work of his predecessor in order to advance legislative reforms and face the challenges in security and justice, economic growth and competitiveness, fighting poverty, creating opportunities and preserving the environment.

Mayor Correa promotes San Miguel to Europeans 
By Jesús Ibarra

Mayor Jesús Correa, accompanied by Assistant Mayor Rodolfo Jurado Maycotte, traveled to Spain at the invitation of UNESCO to attend a forum about World Heritage sites.

“The forums were about conservation, preservation and development of World Heritage sites, and we met to share information with representatives of other World Heritage sites,” said Correa. 

Correa and Jurado also attended a series of meetings with several travel agencies such as El Corte Inglés, Catai Tours, Marsans, Grupo Mucho Viaje, Kuoni España and Kirunna to increase San Miguel’s exposure in Europe and promote the city as a tourist destination through publicity campaigns. 

Correa announced that in early February 2009 he will meet with the owners of several European media outlets, including travel magazines, in San Miguel to “make them to fall in love with our city, and when they return to their cities they can talk about their experience visiting San Miguel.” Correa said that San Miguel has already been promoted as a tourist spot in two international travel magazines, Condé Nast Traveler and Travel and Leisure. 

San Miguel in the News

Friendly San Miguel

Every year since 1988, Condé Nast Traveler readers have taken the Readers’ Choice Survey. In 2008, the questionnaire was available to all readers through a secure website and 32,633 responded.


According to survey results, five Latin American cities were among the top 10 travel destinations for Americans: Buenos Aires, Argentina; San Miguel de Allende; Cuzco, Peru; Oaxaca; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

San Miguel was voted the friendliest city in Latin America.



Two characters with real color

On October 23, The New York Times published an article about local newlywed artists Anado McLaughlin and Richard Schultz in its Home and Garden section. Titled “His Theory? Color Chaos,” the piece is a verbal tour through the couple’s vividly colored, astonishing home in Cieneguita, Casa de las Ranas. Readers also get a glimpse of the two and of their lives together. The pair were recently married in San Francisco.

Inspired by the article, their friend Carol Wheeler penned them a poem based on Allen Ginsberg’s famous “Howl.”

A Howl for Anado and Richard—Angelheaded Hipsters
By Carol Wheeler
(with apologies to Allen Ginsberg)

They saw the best mascotas of their generation nearly destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked dragging themselves through the cieneguita roadways at dawn 
looking for any kind of fix, And they saved (so far) six dogs, six cats, two fish and four burros, potsky slidell manchas wheels simba perla, cielo sueno malinche chicoche skookums tormenta, uds tillie, lolita cleopatra dilly jo barbarella Angelheaded hipsters 

Who gave up poverty and tatters and sat up watching movies in the supernatural darkness of the campo,

Who turned bottles into buildings and mattresses into fences and bathtubs into shrines,

Who saved us all from the ugliness of throwing away and used basura to create incredible installations of beauty and permanence,

Who give us bright shiny corners and spaces and surfaces in our own houses that catch the light and feed the dream and wake us up happy in the mornings and send us to bed filled with thoughts of art and spirit and joy,

Who balled in the mornings in the jardin in the evenings in their sala in the daylight in rose gardens and swiss chard,

Who hiccuped sometimes but laughed a lot and collected several of everything in the world that was worth looking at,

Who made great life-enhancing dramas of rooms with buddhas and shamans and gods and goddesses and presidents and writers, plastered on the walls, marching up the stairs, festooning doors and windows and fireplaces,

Who scribbled all night in their dreams rocking and rolling over lofty incantations that made the morning yellow and the daytime blue and silver and gave the nightime a golden glow,

Who cooked wonderful dishes of every kind lung heart feet tail borscht & tortillas dreaming of a pure vegetable kingdom,

Who plunged themselves into dump trucks and junk shops looking for a jewel and jumped out with dross they turned into gold,

Who seduced their friends and their enemies and anyone who saw them with bright colors, brilliant talk and generous, giving, full-hearted ways,

Who retired to Mexico to cultivate their art and ended up cultivating a whole new world—Visions! Omens! Hallucinations! Miracles! Ecstasies! Epiphanies! Breakthroughs! 

With the absolute heart of the poem of life present in them as a couple, in their fiestas and their tours, in their living room, their gardens, their studios and their fish pond,

We’re with them as they celebrate their rights with state-sponsored rites and officially become our shining thrilling stupendous marriage of the century.