VZCZCXRO9972
PP RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHHO #0095 0660042
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 070042Z MAR 06
FM AMCONSUL HERMOSILLO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1314
INFO RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO PRIORITY 0387
RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RUEHHO/AMCONSUL HERMOSILLO 1678

UNCLAS HERMOSILLO 000095 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/MEX, EMBASSY MEXICO FOR POL AND MCCA DONAHUE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECON ELAB MX
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT FOX BRIEFLY VISITS HERMOSILLO 
 
REF: HERMOSILLO 0082 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  President Vicente Fox made a lightning visit 
to Sonora March 4, ostensibly for ribbon cuttings on two highway 
infrastructure projects in Hermosillo.  Local media described 
the visit as a low-key campaign stop on behalf of the National 
Action Party (PAN), which it seemed to be, but provided positive 
coverage.  Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) Governor 
Bours conspicuously escorted the President throughout his visit, 
adding fuel to commentary about the degree of his estrangement 
from PRI presidential candidate Madrazo.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) During his March 4 visit to Sonora, President Fox first 
cut a ribbon to commemorate the widening and repaving of the 
first 30 kilometers (of 85 total to be worked on) of the 
Hermosillo-Kino Bay highway, and then spoke at a second ceremony 
to mark official completion of modernization of a section of 
Hermosillo's Periferico Oriente beltway.  Governor Eduardo 
Bours, a member of the PRI, and Maria Dolores Del Rio, the PAN 
Mayor of Hermosillo, met Fox at the airport and accompanied him 
to all events. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The President showed up 40 minutes early to the first 
ribbon cutting, reportedly a (successful) tactic to avoid 
demonstrations that had been announced by the union representing 
the Pasta de Conchos mine, Coahuila, where 65 miners died the 
previous week.  At a second event set in a juncture of the 
Periferico Oriente, with the Principal Officer among the 250 
person audience and a large press contingent in attendance, Fox 
was introduced very warmly by Mayor del Rio, who thanked him for 
bringing resources to the city.  Governor Bours also gave a 
friendly introduction, noting that Sonora had enjoyed good 
collaboration from the President on infrastructure funding from 
Mexico City. 
 
¶4. (SBU) A passing sound truck briefly blared some of the 
miners' complaints about non-enforcement of labor safely rules, 
and two students from the University of Sonora (UNISON) with 
banners silently protested the lack of internal UNISON democracy 
in choosing the head of the law school, but the ceremony was 
effectively cordoned off to make any disruptive protest 
impossible. 
 
¶5. (U) President Fox's speech had a short opening section 
directed to the local audience.  He said that of the 239 million 
peso total cost for the infrastructure work, 105 million came 
from the Federal government, 105 million from Sonora state 
funding, and 12 million from city funds.  He thanked the 
Governor and Mayor for their hospitality and praised Sonora for 
having the fastest rate of economic growth of all states in 
Mexico, and the highest percentage of generation of new jobs 
"relatively speaking."  He said that the state was a model for 
the country of collaboration between the three levels of 
government and the private sector. 
 
¶6. (U) The rest of Fox's remarks -- which took up most of his 10 
minute presentation -- recounted accomplishments of his 
Administration, especially major infrastructure projects around 
Mexico and improved education, including greater use of 
computers and better teaching of English.  He predicted that the 
current generation of children in school could be the last to 
experience poverty.  He said that there would be no "Hidalgo 
year" as his Administration closes, a reference to a last 
opportunity, last minute spike in corruption and embezzlement in 
which some previous Mexican administrations have engaged. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Comment:  Governor Bours' attention to President Fox 
was in part dictated by protocol but stood in sharp contrast to 
his public avoidance of PRI presidential candidate Roberto 
Madrazo, who was in Sonora campaigning recently (reftel), and 
with whom he has differences.  Questioned about possible 
implications of his relatively warm welcome of Fox, Bours denied 
that he had any intention of supporting Felipe Calderon, the PAN 
candidate.  President Fox did not specifically mention Calderon 
or the upcoming elections in his remarks, but the local media 
interpreted his visit as mainly a campaign swing to bolster the 
PAN party image and help its candidate.  Although the 
President's handlers avoided crowds and potential protest while 
in Sonora, Fox was  openly charming with the press, spending 
more time joking with them and answering questions than he had 
on the official ceremony.  He garnered generally favorable TV 
coverage that night and in the local newpapers.  End Comment. 
 
CLARKE