Monday, May 12, 2008

Lame Duck California Politician Plays to Mexico Audience

By Barnard R. Thompson

California Assembly Speaker Fabián Núñez, the lame duck representative from Los Angeles, led a group of three (maybe four?) state legislators to Mexico City in early May, on a four day visit “to meet with Mexican President Calderón, business and political leaders.”  According to a press release from the assemblyman’s office, “The focus of the mission is to continue strengthening the commercial, cultural and political relationship that exists between California and Mexico.”

In the past Núñez has been criticized for lavish junkets at public expense (or using money from his campaign account), with extravagant spending at posh accommodations, luxury restaurants and on shopping sprees in European designer boutiques.  In this regard, at a news conference prior to this latest departure to Mexico City the San Francisco Chronicle quoted Núñez as saying: “If there’s criticism, bring it on.”

Whatever, Núñez gives important and grand reasons for this particular trip, yet after all was said and done at least some of the newspeak seemed to be coming out of both sides of the Assembly Speaker’s mouth.

His May 5 press release went on to say:

“Núñez will be joined by Assemblymembers Joe Coto (D-San Jose) and Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) and Senator Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria). The visit is a result of Calderón’s invitation to visit Mexico City after the Mexican president spoke before a joint session of the legislature on February 13, 2008.

“Cooperation on economic issues has continued to prove vital to the economic vitality of both California and Mexico. Mexico is the largest market for exports of California-made goods and has been California’s main trading partner since 1999. California exported $19.6 billion worth of goods to Mexico in 2006, accounting for 15 percent of California’s overall goods export. In 2006, California’s total gross state product was $1.7 trillion. Mexico’s gross domestic product in 2007 was $1.35 trillion. For every $1 billion of California exports to Mexico, 14,000 to 16,000 higher paying jobs are created.

“Speaker Núñez will focus as well in promoting California’s growing green economy and technology.

“‘It is critical that California continue to have a strong relationship with Mexico,’ said Núñez. ‘Our delegation will help continue to foster a mutually beneficial relationship to bolster the economic prosperity of both California and Mexico.’

“According to the 2000 census, 8.4 million California residents are of Mexican descent, and 40 percent of the population in Southern California, between Los Angeles and the Mexican border, speaks Spanish,” the press release concluded.

Núñez met with Mexican President Felipe Calderón on May 8, whereas it is not clear if De León and Maldonado accompanied him to the National Palace.  As for Coto, he may not have made the trip as he is not mentioned in any Mexican reports.

The following is the post-meeting media bulletin, in English, that came out of Calderón’s office after his meeting with Núñez.

“The President’s Office reports that President Felipe Calderón held a meeting today with Speaker of the California State Assembly, Fabián Núñez, at the National Palace.

“During this meeting, President Calderón congratulated Núñez on his leadership during his time as Speaker of the Assembly and his work to encourage understanding and constructive dialogue between Mexico and California.

“President Calderón and Nuñez exchanged points of view on the outlook for an integral migratory reform in the United States and the expectations regarding the possible resumption of the debate on this topic with more objective bases, while recognizing the need to consider immigrants’ contribution to the economic and social growth of the US.

“President Calderón also highlighted the actions his Administration has undertaken to encourage more and better jobs in Mexico so that the country will be able to retain its labor force. He acknowledged the support of Nuñez and the Californian legislators who sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff on April 17th rejecting the round-ups of undocumented workers.

“Nuñez expressed interest in reinforcing collaboration links between California and Mexico, particularly as regards health, education and the environment.

“He also acknowledged the role played by the Mexican president in the fight against organized crime and agreed on the importance of coordinated actions to combat organized crime. At the same time, President Calderón urged Californian legislators to promote the approval of resources for the Merida Initiative in US Congress.

“During his working visit to Mexico, Nuñez was accompanied by Senator for the 15th District of California, Abel Maldonado, and Assemblymember Kevin de León who will attend working meetings with members of the Health and Public Education Secretariats, the National Commission for Physical Culture and Sports and the Mexican business sector,” it ended.

Okay, so far so good – for the most part.

But too, when Núñez and his fellow legislators visited the Mexican Senate the Assembly Speaker and his colleagues had other things to say, according to the Mexico City newspaper Milenio (May 9).

“The California Assembly rejects anti-migrant laws,” the piece is titled (in translation).

“The rights of migrant workers have been trampled for decades in the United States, which is why we in California reject reactionary laws and we struggle daily for (migrants), Fabián Núñez, speaker of that state’s Assembly, said when he visited the Senate in the company of two other legislators, all of Mexican ancestry.

“They maintained that work to guarantee the rights of migrants is going well in California, notwithstanding that just a few years ago that state was harshly criticized for the discriminatory policy of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“‘His point of view on migrants has evolved for the good, as two years [ago] we negotiated a minimum salary increase of US$1.25 with him, which brings us to US$8.00 per hour.’

“Núñez assured that his visit is not to meddle in Mexico’s internal affairs, but to build working relationships on the two main issues that join the two countries: migration and narcotrafficking.

“He acknowledged that on the latter subject the responsibility is shared, since he said: ‘The United States has a great demand for drugs and, if that were not enough, we are contributing to the shortage of food due to the demand for ethanol.’

“He noted that migratory policy on the presidential stage has been a determinant in the election of candidates, since he said: ‘the candidates with anti-migrants postures are out of the race and, for the first time, the three remaining candidates support an integral [immigration] reform.’”

Earlier, according to the Grupo Reforma news service, while in Mexico Núñez had “urged for an immigration reform to be carried out in his country that fights the anti-immigrant wave that has been created.”

“He clarified that California is one of the U.S. states that avoids the imposition of anti-immigrant measures.  ‘(In California) there is a legislative block against anti-immigrant measures; what we have done is to extend rights to the migrant community,’ he pointed out.”

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Barnard Thompson, editor of MexiData.info, has spent 50 years in Mexico and Latin America, providing multinational clients with actionable intelligence; country and political risk reporting and analysis; and business, lobbying, and problem resolution services.