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Monday, April 16, 2007



Mexico Resurrects the Puebla-to-Panama Plan


By Kenneth Emmond



Could the Mexico sponsored and long-heralded Puebla-to-Panama Plan (PPP) actually get underway soon?



Jump-starting this project was the purpose of a one-day get-together on April 10, in Campeche, of what could be called the Puebla-to-Panama Club. President Felipe Calderón was host to six of the seven Central American leaders, plus Jaime Morales, Nicaragua’s vice-president, and President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia.



The Puebla-to-Panama plan was first announced back in 2001 by then-President Vicente Fox, but like many of Fox’s announcements it languished ever afterward.



It’s too soon to say whether anything will develop this time, but based on the end-of-conference communiqué, it looks like the leaders are ready to put some flesh on the bones of the concept.



At the end of the conference, Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Patricia Espinosa said she would instruct the PPP’s Executive Commission to get going on the agenda and provide a progress report at the next meeting.



At the formal dinner on the eve of the conference, Calderón said, “My government is determined to create an agenda in Latin America to bring us closer to Central America and the Caribbean with the goal of giving force to the Puebla-to-Panama Plan.”



True, these are only words, but Calderón has shown himself to be a man of action early in his administration.



The backbone of Puebla-to-Panama, and the most costly project, is upgrading 4,000 kilometers of highway from Puebla to Panama City. That would represent major progress toward integrating the economies of Central America and Mexico. Now, the cost of moving goods over sub-standard roads eats up much of the economic advantage of buying from the low-cost source.



The leaders also agreed to streamline customs procedures at their respective borders, which would be another big step toward regional integration.



Money has always been a problem, and the plan calls for a search for local and/or international investors for the projects, one of which is an oil refinery to be located in a yet-to-be-decided Central American country.



Calderón backed off Fox’s original proposal, under which Mexico was to provide 230,000 barrels of oil a day for the refinery. With the sudden, steep decline in yield from Canterell, Mexico’s most productive oilfield, he admitted he could only guarantee 80,000 barrels per day.



Colombia’s Uribe said he would help make up the shortfall. The members will also investigate lowering their crippling energy import costs by increasing production of ethanol and biodiesel fuels.



Cooperation on international security and a stepped-up effort against organized crime also comprised an important part of the agenda. The delegates signed a joint statement asking the United States for more cooperation in their battle against the drug cartels.



During a break from the formal agenda, Calderón met privately with Uribe to discuss ways Mexico and Colombia can coordinate their anticrime programs.



The two leaders also pledged closer economic cooperation. Their countries formed part of the G-3 Agreement, which used to include Venezuela, but Venezuela withdrew last year after President Hugo Chavez decided the G-3 served no purpose in furthering his Bolivarian Revolution.



The Armed Forces were prepared to deal with expected anti-PPP demonstrations, but only about 50 protesters materialized. Most were environmentalists and members of Mexico’s political left.



The plan’s opponents fear that the PPP will cause environmental damage and will benefit only the upper classes, leaving poor and indigenous people untouched or worse.



They have a point.



Despite the plan’s obvious advantages, as long as there is widespread corruption in the region there’s a real danger that few benefits will percolate down to the lower strata, even though environmental safety and prosperity for all figure prominently in the rhetoric.



“We want sustainable development spread equally throughout the region,” Calderón said. “The plan’s goal is to improve the quality of life of those who live in the region, encouraging human development.”



Integration of Mexico and Central America has been a dream since colonial days, but in previous centuries the problems of transportation and communication proved insurmountable in mountainous Central America.



That’s no longer the case, though it will take money and political will to pave the way.



In his closing address, Calderón quoted the late Octavio Paz, one of Mexico’s most famous men of letters, saying, “The integration of Latin America is not a dream but a reality that we are building day to day.”



There will always be doubters, but the Puebla-to-Panama Plan just might be the project that makes integration a tangible force in the life of the region.

http://www.mexidata.info/id1332.html
http://www.mexidata.info/id1328.html
http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093149905
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Kenneth Emmond, an economist, market consultant and journalist who has lived in Mexico since 1995, is also a columnist with MexiData.info. He can be reached via e-mail at Kemmond00