Three Impressions of Mexico

For almost two decades I have been working in Mexico on a variety of projects. I spent the first two days of the week in Aguascalientes and Mexico City. I can tell you that I was advised by some friends in California not to take the trip. As I was going to the airport yesterday, a son of a good friend in Aguascalientes said he was worried about the misperceptions created by news coverage on the drug violence in the country. I was pleased that he seemed to have the impression so right. But here are three impressions in no particular order. (The photo was taken from the back of one friend's house - we sat out back and watched what he described as an event that happens most evenings - the color and intensity was wonderful.)

Agusacalientes - I first got to know the city, called El Corazón de Mexico or the heart of Mexico, when a friend went back there to start a university. I did a project in the early stages of the current governor to advise him about how to be a successful executive. When I first met the guy(the Governor not my friend) I thought he could be a future president of Mexico. He has not been a successful elected official. That is a disappointment. We did a series of sessions with his key advisors talking about the development of a program - the Governor had very talented people who believed in him. And he let them down.

My friend met me at the airport and expressed concern about safety in the city. Drug violence has even reached cities like Aguascalientes. Aguascalientes has always been a safe haven. The state to the north has had a larger share of problems - but the pervasiveness of the drug problem is disturbing.

We had a good visit and put the first touches on a project to link academics and industrialists in an innovative way. My friend and his family are wonderful. He has an intelligent spouse and four kids who seem to work together well. We had a wonderful relaxed evening at their house on Monday night talking with another friend who is working on a new business (see below) and with the former mayor of the city. I found the former mayor to be thoughtful. He is the kind of person that any country would be lucky to have as a political leader.

My friend has four kids - two boys and two girls - three of them were off doing missions (a tradition in Mexico of helping the poor during holy week) so I got a chance to speak with one of the sons in depth. He is just finishing his degree and we talked about what he wants to do next. We discussed a couple of business opportunities. He talked about a rabbit ranch. He had done some analysis about how such an operation could be profitable. (There are many elements in the business even though rabbit is not a staple of the Mexican diet.) We talked about how to stress test his business plans and I suspect I will see a better developed plan the next time I see him.

Business Opportunities On Monday night I had a chance to catch up with another friend who also worked at a university. He told me that he may be going back to academe but he is now working with a company that imports grain to Aguascalientes from Canada. He then divides the grain into two types - some is repackaged for domestic (Mexican) consumption. But another part of it is shipped for export to Central and South America. Because of the Free Trade agreements between Mexico and some of the countries they are exporting to, the net savings to the Canadian growers is 20% over what it would cost to ship the grain directly from Canada to the final point of sale. The entrepreneurial spirit lives. Aguascalientes looks like it has been hit by the economic downturn a bit more than places like Xalapa. But I saw lots of activity in the downtown.

Maturing Sons - Last night I had a lunch with one of our "Mexican sons." Over the time I have worked in Mexico my wife and I have "adopted" a half dozen young Mexicans - we've provided them coaching and a neutral place to talk about their goals and ambitions. This particular young man worked in a university and talked for a couple of years about completing his doctorate. He was a lawyer as an undergraduate. For a period of about two years every time I saw him he would complain that he did not know how to write a dissertation. Twice I spent a good part of a day working through an outline with him. When he came to me the third time, I was really grumpy with him. I went through some of the issues he was interested in writing about and then told him - that was the last time I would do that. For more than six months I did not hear from him about the doctorate. Then I got an invitation to his defense. I read the dissertation and he did some first rate work on a part of economics that we had discussed (Public Choice theory) but not exactly what we had discussed in his formative stages. He then took a job with a middle sized institution first as a dean and then as a rector. He has been a rector for a bit less than a year. I was impressed with his thoughts on his new job. He seems to be working through a lot of complex issues in the institution. I think he has a vision about where he wants the place to go. I was truly proud to see how this young man's career is developing.

So those are my impressions. One of the things that has intrigued me about Mexico since I first started going there is the potential. Contrary to some popular impressions in the US, the people I have worked with are extraordinarily resourceful. The crisis of the drug wars seemed to be on everyone's mind. But there was strong support for what the President (Calderon) is trying to do. There was also a renewed sense of optimism about the US-Mexico relationships. A couple of my friends spoke highly of our Secretary of State but I think the people I spoke with felt some positive movement that they did not feel during the Bush administration.