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Fox in Mexico: Change is Easier Said than Done

PAN candidate Vicente Fox achieved the impossible by defeating the PRI, the party that ruled Mexico for 71 years. As President, he promised a second revolution, including fiscal reforms that would generate economic growth and new jobs, settlement of the ongoing struggle with indigenous rebels in Chiapas, and a new relationship with the US to stabilize an unruly and porous border. But, during his first year in office, Mexicans have not seen much change. Some of that is due to a global recession, September 11 terrorists attacks on the US, and the peculiar political impact of Mexico's single-term presidency. We get a progress report and ask about the consequences for the United States, from a foreign policy representative of the Fox government as well as political scientists here and in Mexico. Newsmaker: Hahn Approves 100 Million-Dollar Housing Fund Los Angeles suffers America's most serious shortage of affordable housing. In the past, housing advocates fighting for a 100 million-dollar trust fund have been stymied. But Jan Breidenback, executive director of the Southern California Association for Non-Profit Housing, is celebrating Mayor Jim Hahn's approval of such a fund despite the recession and without raising taxes or fees.