Mexico: An Interview with Miguel de la Madrid

On a future debt moratorium. One of the basic principles of our foreign policy is the peaceful solution of controversies. We have not considered it useful to foment conflict or confrontation. Mexico believes more in negotiation than in confrontation.

On the political costs. At present, 70% of our public deficit stems from interest payments. In spite of having increased revenue and reduced expenditures, the load of the interest on the debt has us traveling a vicious circle. If we could reduce the debt-service burden, we would be strengthening the balance of payments and that would give us greater capacity to import--and most of our imports are from the U.S.

In addition to being a real economic problem, the debt has become a very important psychological problem for the people of Mexico. A person or a country can work with greater enthusiasm if they can see a light at the end of the tunnel. But if they see that however many efforts and sacrifices they make, there seems to be no way out, a problem of despondency arises.

On U.S.-Mexican relations. The fact that we are neighbors creates a very complex relationship. There is a great potential for cooperation but also for conflicts. The matter of migration attests to this fact. The drug-trafficking issue has caused some problems. The U.S. is the No. 1 drug-consumer market in the world, and is thus a powerful magnet, which in turn serves to foster this kind of activity in Mexico. The Mexican government is making a considerable effort in drug control in spite of our economic crisis.

On Mexico's future. I do not think Mexico has ever had a very easy time. If we look back over history, we will see that it was only from the 1950s until the end of the 1970s that we enjoyed continuous expansion. The rest of our history has been difficult and has always required enormous efforts by the Mexican people. We have been able to surpass these problems and change Mexico into an important country on a world scale. If we have been able to achieve this when we faced even more serious problems than the ones we face now, I am certain that we will be able to do the same in the future.