Biography of Felipe Caldern

Biography of Felipe Caldern Felipe de Jesà ºs Calderà ³n Hinojosa (1962 - ) is a Mexican politician and former President of Mexico, having been elected in a controversial 2006 election. A member of the PAN (Partido de Accià ³n Nacional/National Action Party) Party, Calderà ³n is a social conservative but a fiscal liberal. Background of Felipe Calderon: Calderà ³n comes from a political family. His father, Luà ­s Calderà ³n Vega, was one of several founders of the PAN party, at a time when Mexico was basically ruled by one party only, the PRI or Revolutionary Party. An excellent student, Felipe earned degrees in law and economics in Mexico before going to Harvard University, where he received a Masters of Public Administration. He joined the PAN as a young man and quickly proved capable of important posts within the party structure. Calderons Political Career: Calderà ³n served as a representative in the Federal Chamber of Deputies, which is a little like the House of Representatives in United States Politics. In 1995 he ran for governor of the state of Michoacn, but lost to Lzaro Crdenas, another son of a famous political family. He nevertheless went on to national prominence, serving as national chairman for the PAN party from 1996 to 1999. When Vicente Fox (who is also a member of the PAN party) was elected president in 2000, Calderà ³n was appointed to several important posts, including director of Banobras, a state-owned development bank, and Secretary of Energy. Presidential Election of 2006: Calderà ³n’s road to the presidency was a bumpy one. First, he had a falling-out with Vicente Fox, who openly endorsed another candidate, Santiago Creel. Creel later lost to Calderà ³n in a primary election. In the general election, his most serious opponent was Andrà ©s Manuel Là ³pez Obrador, representative of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD). Calderà ³n won the election, but many of Là ³pez Obrador’s supporters believe that significant election fraud took place. The Mexican Supreme Court decided that President Fox’s campaigning on Calderà ³ns behalf had been questionable, but the results stood. Politics and Policies: A social conservative, Calderà ³n opposed issues such as gay marriage, abortion (including the â€Å"morning-after† pill), euthanasia and contraception education. His administration was fiscally moderate to liberal, however. He was in favor of free trade, lower taxes and privatization of state-controlled businesses. Personal Life of Felipe Calderon: He is married to Margarita Zavala, who herself once served in the Mexican Congress. They have three children, all born between 1997 and 2003. Plane Crash of November 2008: President Calderons efforts to fight organized drug cartels suffered a major setback in November, 2008, when a plane crash killed fourteen people, including Juan Camilo Mourino, Mexicos Secretary of the Interior, and Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, a high-profile prosecutor of drug-related crimes. Although many suspected the accident was the result of sabotage ordered by drug gangs, evidence seems to indicate pilot error. Calderons War on the Cartels: Calderon gained worldwide recognition for his all-out war on Mexicos drug cartels. In recent years, Mexicos powerful smuggling cartels silently shipped tons of narcotics from Central and South America into the US and Canada, making billions of dollars. Other than the occasional turf war, no one heard much about them. Previous administrations had left them alone, letting sleeping dogs lie. But Calderon took them on, going after their leaders, confiscating money, weapons and narcotics and sending army forces to lawless towns. The cartels, desperate, responded with a wave of violence. When Calderons term ended, there was still a stalemate of sorts with the cartels: many of their leaders had been killed or captured, but at a great cost in lives and money for the government. Calderons Presidency: Early on in his presidency, Calderà ³n adopted many of Là ³pez Obrador’s campaign promises, such as a price cap for tortillas. This was seen by many as an effective way to neutralize his former rival and his supporters, who continued to be very vocal. He raised the wages of the armed forces and police while placing a cap on the salaries of high-level civil servants. His relationship with the United States is relatively friendly: he has had several talks with US lawmakers regarding immigration, and ordered the extradition of some drug traffickers that were wanted north of the border. In general, his approval ratings were fairly high among most Mexicans, the exception being those who accused him of election fraud. Calderà ³n staked much on his anti-cartel initiative. His war on the drug lords was well received on both sides of the border, and he forged close ties with the United States and Canada in an effort to combat the cartel operations all over the continent. The continuing violence is a concern - an estimated 12,000 Mexicans died in 2011 in drug-related violence - but many see it as a sign the cartels are hurting. Calderà ³ns term is seen by Mexicans as a limited success, as the economy continued to slowly grow. He will forever be linked with his war on the cartels, however, and Mexicans have mixed feelings about that. In Mexico, presidents may only serve one term, and Calderons came to a close in 2012. In the presidential elections, moderate Enrique Pena Nieto of the PRI won, beating out Là ³pez Obrador and PAN candidate Josefina Vzquez Mota. Pena promised to continue Calderons war on the cartels. Since stepping down as President of Mexico, Calderon has become an outspoken proponent of global action on climate change.