Fox's promises for changes in Mexican laws have not materialized

Published: 2005-07-21

MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- When Mexico's President Vicente Fox took office five years ago, many Catholics thought his election represented more than an end to decades of single-party rule. They also hoped he would live up to his election pledge to roll back some of the anti-clerical laws on the books since the 19th century. Fox, the first modern Mexican president to declare himself a Catholic, held a banner of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico's patron saint, during at least one stop on his campaign trail. A self-proclaimed pro-life candidate, he included a Mass in his inauguration festivities. But as with much of the rest of the president's agenda that requires constitutional amendments -- including plans to overhaul tax, labor and energy laws -- many of Fox's promises have proven unrealistic because so much of the country's political machinery is still dominated by the party that ruled the country for 71 years. "A constitutional change can't happen just by the will of one person or leader; there must be a national consensus on this," Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera of Mexico City told reporters July 12.

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