Border relief
U.S. must help Zedillo reform economy, government

Former Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari's recent flight to the United States represents the new Mexican administration's commitment to flush out the disastrous past and embrace a brighter tomorrow. Mexico's devastated economy and corrupt politics have snowballed into a permanent frown on the face of the country's leaders, namely current President Ernesto Zedillo.

Mexico is a country in chaos. The United States must encourage Zedillo to clean up corruption in government and focus on stabilizing the status of the peso. By concentrating on its southern neighbor's economic woes, the United States can put an end to the battered peso's frequent wild-goose hunts for stability.

Zedillo has a tough fight in the months ahead of him. The fiscal roller coaster has created a troubled mood in the overpopulated capital city and its surrounding rural communities. Zedillo's promise to reform the government by acknowledging the cold, hard economic truths and passing that information on to the Mexican people is a start. So is the president's goal to speed up the rate of political change.

Mexico is a country crying for reform and may be the first developing country to fall gravely out of favor with the world financial markets. Zedillo has already admitted that his first few months in office have been much rougher than expected.

And Zedillo is still left with the stress of sorting out Salinas' role in two assassinations last year. Last month, Salinas' brother Raul was arrested for the assassination of a former governing-party presidential candidate, Luis Donaldo Colosio. And officials hint at Salinas' involvement in an elaborate cover-up of the murder of another former governing-party leader, Jos Francisco Ruiz Massieu.

Zedillo not only has a difficult road ahead of him -- as Salinas' successor, he has a tough act to follow. Salinas, one of the most respected and popular Mexican leaders in years, had presided over the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations, the restructuring of Mexico's economy and the renegotiation of the country's enormous foreign debt. The evidence Mexican officials may discover about Salinas' involvement in last year's political murders is irrelevant when absolving the former president of blame for the country's fiscal condition.

Salinas hasn't been implicated in any crimes yet, and the Clinton administration must concentrate on helping Zedillo instead of focusing on the former president's presence somewhere in New York. By devising clear plans to achieve his goals, Zedillo can successfully stamp out a depressed history and possibly manage some semblance of a smile in the near future.