Felipe Calderon

Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa (Morelia, Michoacán, August 18, 1962) is a Mexican politician and lawyer who served as President of Mexico from December 1, 2006 until on November 30, 2012. He was a member of the National Action Party (PAN) for thirty years before leaving it in November 2018.

Currently, Felipe Calderón recognized in February 2022 that he was appointed president of the Environment and Sustainability Commission at the International Automobile Federation.

Prior to the presidency, Calderón earned two master's degrees and continued to work within the PAN while it was a major opposition party. Calderón served as national party president, federal deputy, and energy secretary in Vicente Fox's cabinet. He served in that administration's cabinet until he resigned to run for president and secured his party's nomination.

In the 2006 presidential election, he ran as a PAN candidate. After a heated campaign and a controversial electoral process, the official results of the Federal Electoral Institute gave Calderón a small advantage (less than 1% of the total votes) over PRD candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador. While López Obrador and the PRD questioned the results and called for a full recount of the votes, Calderón's victory was confirmed months later, on September 5, 2006, by the Federal Electoral Tribunal. Calderón's inauguration ceremony at the Congress of the Union was tense and lasted less than five minutes, as he only recited the oath of office as PRD lawmakers yelled in protest of alleged voter fraud, and then quickly left the building for security reasons. Some of the legislators got into violent fights.

His presidency was marked by the start of the War on Drugs, which began almost immediately after he took office, and was seen by many observers as a ploy to win popular legitimacy for the new president after complicated elections. Calderón approved Operation Michoacán, the first large-scale deployment of federal troops against drug cartels. At the end of his administration, the official number of deaths related to the drug war was at least 60,000. The murder rate skyrocketed during his presidency parallel to the ignition of the drug war, with the murder rate peaking in 2010 and declining during the last two years of his tenure.

His administration was also marked by the Great Recession, which resulted in a 4.7% drop in gross domestic product in 2009. An economic recovery the following year led to growth of 5.11%. In 2007, Calderón established ProMéxico, a public trust fund that promotes Mexico's interests in international trade and investment. Total foreign direct investment during Calderón's presidency was US$70.494 million. As a result of the approved countercyclical package in 2009 to address the effects of the global recession, the national debt increased from 22.2% to 35% of GDP in December 2012. The poverty rate rose from 43 to 46%.

Other important events during Calderón's presidency include the 2008 passage of criminal justice reforms (fully implemented in 2016), the 2009 flu pandemic, the 2010 establishment of the Mexican Space Agency, the founding of the Pacific Alliance in 2011 and the achievement of universal medical care through Seguro Popular (approved by the Fox administration) in 2012. Sixteen new Protected Natural Areas were created under the Calderón administration. He began a one-year fellowship at the John F. Kennedy School of Government in January 2013 and returned to Mexico upon completion.

After resigning from Acción Nacional at the end of 2018, he decided to create his new political group, called "México Libre", together with his wife, Margarita Zavala.

Biography

Calderón was born in Morelia, Michoacán, on August 18, 1962; son of Luis Calderón Vega and Carmen Hinojosa Calderón. He has 4 siblings: Luisa María (senator of the Republic), Luis Gabriel (doctor), Juan Luis (federal deputy LV Legislature) and María del Carmen.

It was in the National Action Party that Calderón met his wife, Margarita Zavala. He has three children, María, Luis Felipe and Juan Pablo. Before being president of Mexico, he lived in Colonia Las Águilas, south of Mexico City, where he currently lives.

Calderón is a lawyer graduated from the Escuela Libre de Derecho (1987). He earned a master's degree in economics from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), as well as a master's degree in public administration (MPA) from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in the United States.

Political career as a PAN militant

With former President Vicente Fox Quesada.

He was National Secretary of Youth Action, Secretary of Studies and General Secretary of the National Action Party. Between 1996 and 1999 he was president of the National Executive Committee, the executive body of the PAN. During his administration, his party won the governorships of Nuevo León, Querétaro and Aguascalientes, as well as 14 state capitals, including Monterrey.

He was a representative by majority in the Assembly of the Federal District and federal deputy by proportional representation (party or multi-member deputy) on two occasions.

In 1987, Calderón was Secretary of Studies of the National Executive Committee (CEN) of the PAN, which was chaired by Luis H. Álvarez.

In 1988, at the age of 26, he ran for his party as a candidate to represent the Assembly of Representatives of the Federal District and won a relative majority seat for the XXXIX local electoral district in the First Assembly. Of his victory in the presidential elections, this had been the only time that he had triumphed in a vote for a popularly elected position, since, until then, he had only been a candidate for proportional representation (party deputy). At the end of his term as representative, he was a federal deputy from 1991 to 1994, during which time he served as Secretary of the Chamber of Deputies Trade Commission and participated in the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations.

• In 1993, shortly before concluding his term as a federal deputy, he was elected secretary general of his party, when Carlos Castillo Peraza was the president of the National Executive Committee (CEN). During that period, Calderón Hinojosa was also a representative of the PAN to the General Council of the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE), a position he left in 1995.
• After concluding his term as a federal legislator he was nominated in 1995 as a candidate for governor of Michoacán, his native state, an entity where the panism still had no significant electoral presence. He did not hold office, but he increased the vote for his party (25%) in the elections.
• He was subsequently elected president of the National Executive Committee (CEN) of his party for the period 1996-1999.
• He was coordinator of the PAN parliamentary fraction in the Chamber of Deputies during the LVIII legislature.
• In 2003 he joined the state bank Banobras and subsequently the cabinet of President Vicente Fox Quesada as Secretary of Energy, a position he would resign shortly thereafter, after alleged pressures of the president when he himself self-postulated to the Presidency of the Republic for his party.

Among his participation in international political organizations, there is his participation in the group "World Leaders of the Future" of the World Forum, of which he has been a member since 1997, as well as in the International Christian Democrats (IDC), of which He has been Vice President since 1998. He is a member of the Club of Madrid.

Candidate for the presidency

Felipe Calderón Hinojosa and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Calderón was chosen as the candidate of the National Action Party in an internal election at the end of 2005. In them he defeated the former Secretary of the Interior, Santiago Creel, and the former Governor of Jalisco, Alberto Cárdenas Jiménez, with a very wide margin.

Calderón accepted his party's nomination on December 4, 2005, and officially began his campaign in January 2006.

Proselytizing campaign

In the run-up to the 2006 presidential elections, Calderón broke the agreement between the political parties not to promote presidential candidates during the year-end festivities (2005); thus, during the Christmas Truce decreed by the Mexican Federal Electoral Institute (IFE), Calderón held public events and sent Christmas messages, on at least two occasions, before the campaigns for the Presidency formally began.

Calderón's campaign advanced considerably after the first presidential debate, in which the representative of the left Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who until then had been the clear favorite in all the polls, did not participate. Subsequently in opinion polls, Calderón advanced to slightly surpass López Obrador in some polls between March and May 2006.

Political vision

With a conservative vision, according to his partisan affiliation, Calderón opposes the decriminalization of abortion, euthanasia, and homosexual marriage. He also proposed, among other things, tax police, improvement of tax collection and a broad employment program, this being its main banner.

Campaign promises

The main campaign promise was the creation of more and better jobs, which is why he named himself "The President of Employment."

Criticism and controversies

Most of the criticism came from his opponent, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the coalition that nominated him, and opposition editorial writers. His performance as Director of the state bank Banobras, his participation in the bank rescue (Fobaproa), as well as the relationship of the company of his brother-in-law Diego Hildebrando Zavala with the federal government, were the strongest critics. to his candidacy.

Black campaign

In an interview with Denise Maerker, Calderón admitted that she agreed with the negative campaign her party carried out against Andrés Manuel López Obrador. He opined that it is valid and legitimate for a party to think that the alternative against which it competes is a danger to Mexico.

Fobaproa

Fobaproa has been one of the biggest scandals since the economic crisis that the country experienced in 1994.

During the 2006 presidential campaign, the PRD accused Calderón of “being an accomplice” to Fobaproa, assuring that its actions were orchestrated by Calderón. However, the execution of Fobaproa was carried out by the Executive Power, at that time headed by President Ernesto Zedillo, of the PRI, while Calderón participated from the Legislative Power with an alternative proposal.

Basting

In the June 6, 2006 presidential debate, presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador accused Calderón of influence peddling, having awarded contracts at PEMEX during his eight-month term as Energy Secretary to the software Hildebrando, which is managed by Diego Hildebrando Zavala, who is his brother-in-law. López Obrador also accused the company of tax evasion. Calderón rejected that accusation during the same debate. Diego Zavala denied the accusations at first and had said that he would sue López Obrador for defamation, filing his complaint with the PGR for alleged non-pecuniary damage.

Calderón decided to go on a kind of media offensive that Diego Hildebrando called into question when he acknowledged that when Calderón was Secretary of Energy, in 2003, he was awarded a Pemex contract worth eight million pesos. However, on the Compranet portal, belonging to the Ministry of Public Administration, it was possible to access information on the contracts awarded to companies that, according to what they indicated, were 11.

The electoral campaign ended two weeks before the election, and the latest opinion polls showed a close race between Felipe Calderón Hinojosa and Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who appeared with percentages so close that practically no survey clearly established the possible winner (the difference between the two candidates fell within the margin of error).

July 2 and the post-election environment

On July 2, at the conclusion of the election, Calderón declared himself the winner according to the results that until then had been given by the IFE and some exit polls. On July 6, after a count that included all the sectional tallies in each electoral district, the IFE ruling determined that the candidate with the highest number of votes was Felipe Calderón Hinojosa. But the PRD candidate, Andrés Manuel López Obrador declared that electoral fraud had taken place and demanded the recount of the votes, mobilizing millions of protesters in his support in Mexico City, blocking access to Paseo de la Reforma avenue (one of the most important in the city) and to the city center for more than a month.

This result was turned over to the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary, which resolved the challenges presented and on September 5, 2006 validated the elections, thus declaring Felipe Calderón as president-elect of Mexico. On September 7, he was issued the Solemn Proclamation by the Chamber of Deputies announcing that Felipe Calderón was appointed president-elect.

President of Mexico (2006-2012)

His first act as president was the appointment of the secretaries of the Interior, National Defense, Public Security and the Navy. On December 1 at midnight, having announced it a few hours before, an unusual "ceremony of transfer of powers" was carried out before the television cameras and on a national network, also attended by the outgoing president Vicente Fox, and the incoming cabinets and outgoing. Later, at 9:45 a.m., after a stormy session in Congress and after harsh negotiations between the PAN and PRD benches, Felipe Calderón and Vicente Fox forced their way into the San Lázaro Legislative Palace in the midst of a tense atmosphere. in order to carry out the swearing-in established by the Constitution.

At 9:50 a.m. on December 1, 2006, after tight security measures and with PAN Deputies on the Tribune, and in the midst of protests and whistles by Deputies of the PRD Bancada, in the Legislative Palace of San Lázaro, Felipe Calderón, forcibly entering through the back door of the premises, took oath of the position of president of the United Mexican States in the middle of a loud whistle, swearing to comply with and enforce the Constitution and the laws that emanate from it, in a text pronounced as marked by the Magna Carta itself; where the presidential band had to be worn in the middle of a military and police device, and not in a republican ceremony, as dictated by the constitution.

Subsequently, after a ceremony in the National Auditorium, where he was to deliver his first official speech, in Campo Marte, the president reviewed the Army, Navy and Air Force, as Supreme Commander of the armed forces.

Rule of Law and Public Safety

Police Corps

He reformed the country's police forces, transforming the Federal Police, going from a state of force of 6,000 elements in 2006 to 36,000 in 2012, including more than 7,000 young people with university professional training. police certification processes were carried out, however by July 2012 only 45% of police elements had been evaluated. implementing what he called "National Security Programs and Strategies", such as the "Plataforma México" project that, Among other things, it contemplates the existence and implementation of a Single Criminal System throughout the country. Another of the safety programs is "Let's Clean Mexico", which is in three phases: Recovery Zone, Safe School and Primary Care Center for Addictions and Mental Health.

Penal reform

He also proposed a series of Criminal Reforms, such as the General Law to Prevent and Punish Kidnapping Crimes, the Asset Forfeiture Law, the Constitutional Reform in Criminal Justice and Public Safety, which which led to the implementation of the "New Criminal Justice System" through the "Proyecto Diamante" training program, which sought to train legal professionals in the accusatory oral trial system. Likewise, the Mérida Initiative continued, receiving resources from the US government between 2007 and 2012, which amounted to 1,911 million dollars, acquiring with said resources, helicopters, airplanes, ballistics laboratories, polygraphic equipment, training and qualification of police and ministerial elements.

Armed Forces

In military matters, Felipe Calderón frequently appeared together with the Army, on one of those occasions in semi-military attire. At the beginning of his government, he made a proposal substantially increasing the salary of the Mexican military. inclusive, the desertion rates were reduced by more than 50%, as well as training the members of the armed institutes (Army, Air Force and Naval Force) by 99%.

Economy

Poverty in Mexico

According to the official annual report; “2012 Social Development Policy Evaluation Report”, of the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (Coneval), presented on September 15, 2012, during the six-year term of Felipe Calderón Hinojosa Poverty in Mexico increased, because according to the official figures detailed in this report from 2008, the Mexican population that was in a situation of poverty was equivalent to 44.5 percent of the national population; while for 2010, it increased to 46.2 percent, this is considering that in 2008 there were 48 million 838 thousand Mexicans in this situation; and two years later, 51 million 993 thousand people were in this circumstance, that is, three million 155 thousand more people to the ranks of the population groups under this socio-economic situation.

In the area of "poverty measured solely by income" —which was the official measurement until 2008— in the six-year term of Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, 15.9 million Mexicans were added to poverty, since according to official data, in 2006 there were 45.5 million people in poverty, measured in this item, and by 2012 it reached 61.4 million, that is, 52.3 percent of the population, reported the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (Coneval). Regarding the measure of "capability poverty", which includes: "the population that cannot access sufficient food, health and education, even if they used all their income for these goods", there are 32.9 million Mexicans, 10.8 million more than in 2006, when there were 22.1 million people qualified under the poverty line in this regard. In the field of "patrimonial poverty& #34;, where a; "people who cannot cover their basic requirements for housing, footwear, health, public transport, food and education, even if they allocate all their income to it", between 2010 and 2012 there was an increase of 2.9 million people, to reach 61.4 million in 2012, that is, more than half of the Mexican population.

In the same sense, José Luis de la Cruz, director of the Centro de Investigación en Economía y Negocios del Tecnológico de Monterrey, when presenting the "2013 Economic Perspectives Report “The National Crusade against Hunger: Reform or replace the economic model?” ", he explained that; "one in four Mexicans joined the list of poverty by income during the administration of former President Felipe Calderón", he also pointed out that in his study: "the number of poor by income, that is, that their salary is barely enough to survive, it went from 45 million in 2006 to 61 million in 2012".

External debt of Mexico during his tenure

According to official information, at the end of 2006 Mexico's total external debt was at 117,506,000,000 dollars, while as of June 2011 the total amount of debt had risen to 225,935,000,000 dollars. dollars, which represents an increase of 92%.

GDP growth

During the 2006-2012 administration, the country suffered the economic recession of 2008 and the world crisis of 2009, yielding the following economic figures.

Public spending

In economic matters, at the beginning of his six-year term, Calderón applied an austerity decree in which the salary and that of his secretaries of state were reduced by 10 percent, which, in real terms, is equivalent to $4,799 less than Vicente Fox a fortnight.

There has also been a reform to the ISSSTE Law, by which the accounts of state workers are individualized; this reform was given in less than a week. With this Law negotiated with the Government, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the National Action Party (PAN), the SNTE and the FSTSE. This not only individualizes the accounts, it also creates an organization directed by the ISSSTE. Those who support it have mentioned that it will avoid future economic problems while critics challenge not only the method with which it was approved, but also an alleged blow to worker savings.

On the other hand, the programs and actions aimed at overcoming poverty amounted to 317 billion pesos, which represented 60.4% compared to 2007.

In 2012, the government of Felipe Calderón spent 6 thousand 860 million pesos on advertising.

Economic Shielding

International reserves were accumulated for up to 159.8 billion dollars, as well as a Flexible Credit Line contracted since January 2011 with the International Monetary Fund for up to 73 billion dollars.

Expansion of tax revenues

The IMPAC Asset Tax was replaced with the IETU single-rate Business Tax, as well as the IDE Cash Deposit Tax. thus, the taxpayer base was also expanded, which went from 23.9 million in 2007 to 37.5 million in 2012.

Employment

In his electoral campaign, he offered to be the “President of Employment”, for which he began with the First Job projects, eliminating employers' IMSS quotas for a year when they hire new personnel who did not have previous work experience and therefore did not register with the IMSS.

Likewise, in his latest government report, he stated that 2,240,000 jobs had been created, a report provided regarding the number of affiliates to the Mexican Institute of Social Security. However, despite these job promotion policies, he ended his administration with an unemployment rate of 5 points, 1.4 more than the 3.6 of the Vicente Fox administration, thus leaving the number of 876,000 unemployed..

Likewise, at the end of his administration, he promoted a preferential law initiative, to reform various normative precepts of the Federal Labor Law, the foregoing in order to "make the labor market more flexible."

Energy Infrastructure

Oil Infrastructure

Public investment in the oil industry - Petróleos Mexicanos - amounted to 1 trillion 569.1 billion pesos, 63.3% compared to the investment made in the previous administration.

Electrical Infrastructure

Diversification of clean energy sources was promoted, such as the Manzanillo Integral Project, the Oaxaca I, II, III and IV Wind Power Plants (406 megawatts) and the La Yesca and El Cajón Hydroelectric Power Plants (750 megawatts each)); increasing the national coverage of electrical service from 96% to 97.8% by 2012.

Economic crisis

Due to a world food crisis from December 2006 to September 15, 2011, the average price of the basic basket rose by 34.17 percent, while the average cost of food considered in this universe rebounded 36.01 percent, 7.5 times the increase in wages granted to workers in January 2007, according to a measurement by the Federal Consumer Attorney's Office and the Ministry of Economy.

The price of the 43 products that make up the basic consumer basket has exceeded the rise in general inflation, which is officially 4.2 percent annually, with the exception of onion, which has decreased.

This has occurred in an environment in which the cost of gasoline has risen, from December 2006 to 2009, by an average of 3.5 percent per month for the Magna and Standard gasolines offered by Petróleos Mexicanos: Magna y Premium, according to data from the company itself.

A crisis occurred in terms of the price of corn and tortillas one month after the start of the new government administration, where tortilla prices doubled (from 5.25 to 10.5 pesos per kg). Among the reasons for this phenomenon, two are mentioned: an increase in corn prices for bioethanol production and the hoarding of grain by corn businessmen. The intervention of the Presidency was given through the secretaries of Economy, Agriculture and the director of the Federal Consumer Attorney's Office (Profeco); Eduardo Sojo, Alberto Cárdenas Jiménez and Antonio Morales de la Peña, respectively. This intervention was criticized for having been a late reaction, although it led to the Economic Pact for the Stabilization of Tortillas. Through this agreement, the price of the staple food was stabilized —in establishments adhering to the pact —; the price of the tortilla was 8.50 Mexican pesos, against the 6 or 7.00 pesos it cost before the crisis. The criticism continued because it is said that the agreed price was still too high.

On December 8, 2008, the Mexican government acknowledged that the country's economy had been affected by the effects of the international crisis, which had worsened particularly between September and October 2009. A month earlier, the Institute Mexican Social Security (IMSS) reported the loss of 51,262 formal jobs —that is, registered with this institute—, which would amount to 5.17% of the economically active population (EAP) in June 2009. Within the framework of this generalized crisis of the Mexican economy, up to August 1, 2009, 596,200 jobs had been lost since June 2008, while the national gross domestic product (GDP) registered a contraction of 10.4%. in the same period.

Equal Opportunities

Oportunidades Human Development Program and Food Support Program

The “Oportunidades Program” implemented to financially support families in poverty and improve their levels of nutrition, education and health. The average monthly amount of support they receive increased from 529 pesos in 2007 to 830 pesos in 2012. Likewise, in 2008 the "Food Support Program" was created to supplement food spending in families in poverty.. Both programs benefit 6 million 500 thousand families throughout the country. (In 2006 there were 5 million 100 thousand).

Firm Floor

More than 2,550,000 dirt floors were replaced with concrete floors throughout the country, exceeding the six-year goal of 2,450,000.

This is your House

More than 1 million 40 thousand subsidies were granted to workers who earn less than four minimum wages, so that they could access a home loan.

70 and Over

Persons over 70 years of age received a pension with support of 500 pesos a month, in addition to receiving social guidance, medical attention and medicines.

Health

In terms of health, a new Universal Insurance program was proposed for newborns, who will be able to count, from the moment this program is implemented, with life insurance, in addition to the reimplementation of the caravan program of Health. In July 2012, the affiliation of 52 million 700 thousand people was achieved.

There was a controversy over the statements by the Secretary of Health, José Ángel Córdova Villalobos, about the modification of the strategies on HIV/AIDS, among them, focusing on fidelity as the axis of prevention of this problem. Later, the same President Calderón supported the condom distribution policy to combat HIV/AIDS.

Education

1,100 new high school and 140 higher education levels and 96 existing campuses were built, benefiting more than 147,000 students. In this way, Open and Distance Education was also promoted, providing coverage to 1 million students in upper secondary and higher education levels.

Educational scholarships were promoted, granting 38 million scholarships to students of all educational levels. 1 million scholarships for upper secondary and higher education.

One of the most controversial matters has been education, among some issues, including a broad cut to Education at the beginning of the budget discussion, with UNAM being one of the most affected. Unesco, the OECD, the World Bank, the Conacyt, the SNTE, the UNAM and most of the political parties criticized him but, later, Calderón and his government would rectify by reversing the cut.

Another controversy was the appointment of Fernando González Sánchez as undersecretary of Basic Education of the Ministry of Education, since he himself is the son-in-law of Elba Esther Gordillo, leader of the National Union of Education Workers, an issue for which he received criticism.

Children's Stays

More than 9,500 childcare centers were created, under the subrogation model by the Mexican Social Security Institute, approved by Felipe Calderón and his wife Margarita Zavala. Officially, 267,000 women workers were benefited. For this reason, in June 2012, the United Nations Organization granted recognition in the category of Promotion of the Gender Approach in the Provision of Public Services. However, on June 5, 2009, the ABC Daycare Center in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico caught fire.

ABC Nursery Fire

On June 5, 2009, the ABC Daycare Center in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico caught fire. In the fire, 49 boys and girls died and 76 were injured, all infants between the ages of five months and five years old. No high-level official assumed responsibility for this tragedy, however, relatives of Mrs. Margarita Zavala, wife of Felipe Calderón, were among the owners of the ABC Nursery.^{[citation required]}

Sustainable Development

Reforestation

It is estimated that the ProArbol program planted more than 1,930 million trees in 2 million 187 thousand hectares, which is equivalent to twice the surface of Querétaro.

Payment for Environmental Services

People who live in forests and jungles receive economic support in exchange for the conservation of forest ecosystems.

Protected Natural Areas

25 million 300 thousand hectares were decreed as Protected Natural Areas, which represents 12.9% of the national territory.

Sustainable Light Program

47 million 200 thousand saving lamps were distributed to discourage the use of incandescent light bulbs, generating savings of more than 2 thousand 048 gigawatt-hours and avoiding the emission of more than 14 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

National Program for the Replacement of Home Appliances.

Low-income families benefited through direct support and accessible credits, so that obsolete refrigerators and air conditioning equipment could be replaced by more modern and efficient ones, significantly reducing electricity consumption. As of August 15, 2012, just over 1 million 780 thousand refrigerators and air conditioning equipment were replaced.

Sustainable Housing

The Infonavit Green Mortgage Program was instituted, establishing federal subsidies for basic housing packages with eco-technologies for sustainable water and energy savings, granting 874,000 green mortgages.

Democracy and Foreign Policy

Political Reform

In 2007 the electoral reform was carried out, which renewed all the members of the General Council of the Federal Electoral Institute, establishing limitations for political parties and civil associations, to contract advertising spaces on television and radio, in the propagation for or against certain candidates or political proposals. Likewise, in 2012, the political reform that established independent candidacies, the popular consultation, the preferential initiative, as well as rules for the substitution of the presidency, entered into force.

Fight Corruption

No notable cases of corruption, even despite the publicity scandals against the children of Martha Sahagún, wife of former President Vicente Fox, as well as those that at the time were accused of the Secretary of the Interior Juan Camilo Muriño.

The Federal Anti-Corruption in Public Procurement Law was approved, whose purpose is to establish exemplary procedures and sanctions for suppliers and contractors of the Federal Government, as well as for the powers and constitutional bodies that participate in acts of corruption.

In this way, the elimination of procedures and services was carried out, suppressing 2,841 procedures and services, simplifying citizen attention, by eliminating tasks and requirements.

Government Transparency

The constitutional reform on access to public information was promoted, in the three public powers and levels of government.

Foreign relations

I Pacific Alliance Summit.

After being declared president-elect, Felipe Calderón toured the American continent, where he met with presidents such as George W. Bush, of the United States, and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, of Brazil.

Already in office as president, he toured Europe, meeting with the president of the Spanish government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and the prime ministers of Great Britain, Tony Blair, of Germany, Angela Merkel, and at the inauguration of the President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega.

On March 13 and 14, 2007, he received Bush in the city of Mérida, Yucatán.

In June 2007 he began a tour of Europe, meeting with Pope Benedict XVI, with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and with the Italian Minister of Justice, all this in Rome. Later he went to Milan and then to Paris, where he met President Nicolas Sarkozy. He also attended the G-8 Summit in Germany as part of the expanded dialogue with the G-5 (emerging countries: Mexico, Brazil, India, South Africa and China).

In 2008 he participated in the North American Leaders Summit in Montebello, Canada; holding a trilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and US President George W. Bush, as well as bilateral meetings with each of them.

On the left, Felipe Calderón with former U.S. President Barack Obama, at the center in a meeting with former Argentine president Cristina Fernandez in the Casa Rosada
and on the right with former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

In 2009, he attended a meeting of Heads of State, in the City of Managua, Nicaragua, where issues related to the deposition of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya were discussed.

During his administration, Mexico was the first Latin American country, and the second developing country, to preside over the "G-20", which brought together the 20 largest economies on the planet, taking the meeting in Los Cabos City, announcing in said event, the Mexican participation in the negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, which would open opportunities for foreign trade.

Immigration Reform

Felipe Calderón made immigration reform one of his top priorities, and in 2008 he and the Mexican Congress approved a bill decriminalizing undocumented immigration to Mexico. He expressed hope that something would be done to clarify the status of undocumented Mexican immigrants in the United States.

Before meeting with President Bush in March 2007, Calderón openly expressed his disapproval of building a wall between the two nations. After the United States Senate rejected the comprehensive immigration bill, President Calderón He called the decision a "serious mistake."

International Leadership in the Environment

During his participation in the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference in December 2009, Felipe Calderón received the Global Organization of Legislators Award for his leadership in protecting the environment; said award was presented by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Gordon Brown.

This is how the Cancun Agreements were promoted, in which the work for the operation of the Green Fund was promoted, an international mechanism against climate change proposed by Mexico at COP 16.

Mexico became the first country to develop legislation on climate change.

Energy reform

At the beginning of 2008, he sent to the Congress of the Union a series of initiatives to reform the energy sector, specifically Petróleos Mexicanos; the initiative was discussed in a series of expert forums organized by the Mexican Senate; the reform was modified by the three most important political parties, PRI, PAN and PRD. The reform was approved at the end of September of the same year and on Friday, November 28, the seven decrees that make up the Energy Reform were published in the Official Gazette of the Federation.

Constitutional Reforms

During the first five years of his administration, thirty decrees of reforms to the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States were issued.

Just before the end of his term, on Thursday, November 22, 2012, he announced a proposed decree to change the name of the country from United Mexican States to only Mexico to emphasize the country's own identity with respect to the United States of America This proposal was not taken as a priority by the Congress of the Union.

Calderon at the 2007 World Economic Forum.

Approval Ratings

According to a poll conducted by Grupo Reforma conducted between February 16 and February 18, 2007, Calderón's approval rating was 58%. In this survey, the Mexicans interviewed gave President Calderón and his actions a score of 6.6 out of 10. He is best rated in his actions on issues related to health and the reduction of drug trafficking (60% and 59% approval respectively), and rated worst in domestic and foreign policy (33% approval each). While another poll conducted by Ipsos-Bimsa shows a change in Calderón's approval rating of 57% in November 2007. By June In 2008, Calderón's approval rating jumped to 64% before falling to 62% in September of the same year.

According to a survey carried out in March 2010 by GEA-ISA, 45% of those surveyed approved the performance of their president seven points less than in November 2009, with 52%.

Pollster Buendia & Laredo released a poll showing President Calderón's approval rating at 54% on May 9, 2011. Almost a year later, on February 27, 2012, a poll conducted by El Universal showed an approval rating of 58 % with just 11% disapproving, a drop in security concern from 48% to 33% of respondents security as the top concern facing the government, 42% say things have improved in Mexico since the administration of Felipe Calderón, 21% said things had stayed the same, while 34% said things had gotten worse.

That same year, the Grupo Reforma survey published between March 22 and March 26 indicated that Calderón had a 66% approval rate among 1,515 people. While Consulta Mitofsky published a study on August 23 of 2012 that concluded that after 22 quarters, the approval of Felipe Calderón was reduced to 46%.

Controversies

Banobras

Calderón was accused of granting himself a loan a few months after beginning his term as head of the state bank Banobras, which was paid after it was obtained, according to the president's words. In addition, Felipe Calderón really had the experience in banking administration officially required to hold the position of Director of Banobras.

War on Drugs

President Calderón's administration considered the crime that existed in the country "unsustainable", due to the blockade of the Caribbean route of South American cocaine, which made Mexico the main access route to the United States, as well as institutional weakness steeped in corruption. Due to this, the "National Security Strategy" was implemented, declared the war against drug trafficking, involving the Mexican Army in the fight against drug trafficking, in special operations in Michoacán, Tijuana, Nuevo León, Ciudad Juárez, Guerrero and Morelos. where the levels of executions increased. Carrying out important blows to criminal organizations, capturing or "killing" (deceased), 22 of the 37 criminals most wanted by the Attorney General's Office.

Criticism of the “war” against drug trafficking

After several months of fighting in the so-called war against drug trafficking, given the increase in violence and the CNDH's denunciations of human rights violations by the Army, the Permanent Commission of the Congress of the Union asked him President Calderón prevented the use of the armed forces in the fight against drug trafficking, to which the president replied that the armed forces would continue in the fight against it. Various analysts pointed out that the strategy of removing the army from the streets was a great failure since the deaths caused by the subsequent violence would be close to 60 thousand, and even 150 thousand according to some sources.

The actions in matters of public security led by the Army have achieved meager results to the extent that the number of drug trafficking executions has increased by more than 10 percent so far this administration, at the same time that the civilian population has suffered attacks by the Army that have resulted in several innocent deaths and injuries.

One of the attacks on civilians has been the death of Ernestina Ascensión Rosario, a native of Soledad Atzompa, Veracruz, who was murdered and allegedly raped by members of the Army. Calderón said he was pending the case and told the media that there was no mob rape by the military, but rather that the woman died due to poorly treated chronic gastritis, statements he made without offering any evidence.

Another case has been that of a family murdered at a military checkpoint; Five members of two families, two women and three children, died during a shooting at a checkpoint near the La Joya de los Martínez community, in the Municipality of Sinaloa.

In the first days of his government, Felipe Calderón fulfilled his promise of a strong hand and initiated a series of actions against the so-called organized crime and drug trafficking, in which a considerable number of military elements were mobilized, whom raise the salary and ask for loyalty, towards the centers of action of these groups within the country.

However, it is limited in its fight against Impunity and Corruption, according to Transparency International. In addition, Genaro García Luna, secretary of public security under Calderón, ended up on trial in the United States accused of contributing to international cocaine trafficking, accepting bribes and collaborating with Mexican drug cartels.

Posts

• - (2020). Difficult decisions. Debate; Penguin Random House Editorial Group. ISBN 6073176384. OCLC 1263235710.

• - (2014). The challenges we face. Debate; Penguin Random House Editorial Group. ISBN 607312631X. OCLC 960026143.

Awards and decorations

Decorations

Throughout his presidency, Calderón has been awarded several honors from foreign nations.

• Quetzal Order, Collar, granted by the President of Guatemala, Alvaro Colom, in his state visit to Mexico, on July 27, 2011.
• Order of the Bath, Knight of Honor, Grand Cross, granted by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom on the visit of the state of Felipe Calderón to the United Kingdom, March 30, 2009.
• Knight of Gran Cruz with Collar of the Order of Civil Merit, awarded by Juan Carlos I of Spain on 15 November 2012.
• Caballero de Gran Cruz con Collar de la Orden de Isabel la Católica, bestowed by Juan Carlos I of Spain on the State visit of Felipe Calderón to Spain, June 6, 2008.
• National Order José Matías Delgado, Gran Cruz, granted by the Government of El Salvador, March 4, 2008.
• Order of the Elephant, Knight, granted by Queen Margarita II of Denmark in her state visit to Mexico, February 18, 2008.
• Order of the South Cross, Grand Collar, granted by the Government of Brazil, August 7, 2007.
• Order to the Merit of Chile, Collar, granted by the president of Chile Michelle Bachelet on her state visit to Mexico (2007).
• Order of Belize, granted by the then Prime Minister of Belize, Said Musa on the state visit of Felipe Calderón to Belize.

Awards

• WEF State Leadership Award, World Economic Forum, January 2012
• People Who Mattered by the magazine Timein 2010.
• The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010 by the British magazine New StatesmanSeptember 2010
• Bravo Business Awards to the Leader of the Year, Latin Trade, October 2009.
• Leader of the Year, by the Latin Business Chronicle, December 17, 2007.
• Honorary Chairman of the Global Economic and Climate Commission.

References and notes