MEXICO: Self-Help Program

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The Mexican government's recent drastic 31% devaluation of the peso (TIME, April 26) caught the country by surprise, but the country's reaction—in soaring prices and roaring protests—has given the Mexican government almost as big a shock. Last week, in his first direct appeal to the people, President Adolfo Ruiz Cortines spoke over radio and TV in an effort to dispel a mood of confusion and despair.

After a short, stern sermon on work as Mexico's only salvation. Ruiz Cortines proclaimed a 30-point program of action for dealing with the economic consequences of devaluation. Items: ¶250,000 federal employees will get a 10% pay raise June 1. ¶Private employers should follow suit, absorbing the raises. ¶ Farm support prices on corn, beans, wheat and rice will also be raised 10%. ¶The record $400 million public-works program will be speeded up. ¶Export industries will get government credit and tax rebates, and the 25% export tax imposed at the time of devaluation will be lifted on manufactured goods.

Though the devaluation crisis had sharply reminded the government of Mexico's dependence on U.S. dollars, Ruiz Cortines made no mention in his program of foreign private investment. The only indication that Mexico could not pull herself up entirely by her own bootstraps was his announcement that he intends"to negotiate long-term foreign credits for railroad rehabilitation, expansion of fertilizer production and the realization of our program of port development."