opinion

Mexico is one of the discussion topics in the "Great Decisions" groups in Minnesota in 2012. And rightly so. No other bilateral relationship is as important to the security and prosperity of the United States as the one with Mexico.

Let's reflect on Mexico's current situation and the challenges to deepening our nations' strategic partnership.

Today, Mexico is a middle-income country. Five factors have significantly expanded its middle class:

• Sustained and responsible macroeconomic policies have been in place for almost two decades. By 2010, Mexico was growing at a 5 percent rate, with 4 percent inflation and 5 percent unemployment. The forecast for growth in 2012 is more than 3 percent.

• Mexico has one of the largest numbers of free trade agreements in the world. This includes NAFTA and agreements with the European Union and with Latin American, Asian and Middle Eastern countries, and has had a profoundly positive impact on the Mexican economy.

• A demographic change has taken place in Mexico, where today the largest proportion of the population is young and ready to work. The birth rate in 2010 was 2.2 percent, and it is estimated that in 20 to 25 years Mexico will be a predominantly middle-aged society.

• Continuity in one of the most successful extreme poverty-alleviation programs in the world for more than a decade and a half. Mexico's program has become a model for other poverty-alleviation programs around the world. Currently called "Oportunidades," this program has brought 40 million people out of extreme poverty.

• In 2012, Mexico will achieve universal health coverage.

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These achievements are often overshadowed these days by news of violence and insecurity in Mexico. Mexico is confronting this problem head-on, dealing with transnational criminal organizations operating in the country with a comprehensive strategy it has been implementing since the outset of the administration of Felipe Calderon in 2007.

Mexico's public safety strategy includes, but is not limited to, four key dimensions:

• The deployment of the federal police and armed forces to fight transnational criminal organizations. The federal police force is undergoing a great transformation, becoming more and more professional. Agents are thoroughly screened and increasingly have college degrees. Additionally, the Federal Police Intelligence Center has become a key resource to guarantee the effective use of "Plataforma Mexico," the database and interconnection network that brings together crime-related data collected by municipalities, states and the federal government itself.

 • Making security and justice institutions more reliable. Together with Congress, the federal government continues to work on several bills to restructure police forces at the state and local levels as well, to establish a national security law, to reform military jurisdiction, and to strengthen anti-money-laundering capabilities and regulations.

• The reconstruction of the social fabric. The federal government is investing heavily and is implementing proactive policies in the areas of public health, social welfare and education. These policies foster citizen participation, recover public spaces for our communities and make schools safer.

• A new paradigm of shared responsibility. Mexico has been strengthening international cooperation on security matters in order to confront this phenomenon, which is transnational in nature. In this regard, it has been establishing an unprecedented level of cooperation with the United States.

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On some issues, our countries have become truly strategic partners. On others, we are still working to get there. Trade is a good example of the positive strategic partnership. It is the great equalizer in the bilateral relationship.

Mexico is the first or second export market for 28 U.S. states. Ten million American jobs are directly related to the relationship with Mexico.

Mexico buys more U.S. exports than do the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands combined, and more than Japan and China altogether. More than $1 billion in goods and services crosses our border on any given day.

Immigration is one of the issues in which we still need to find a more strategic focus. Mexico is determined to do its part in getting the immigration equation right, and it is doing so under a paradigm of joint responsibility.

We have to continue to improve conditions to keep in Mexico those men and women who are energetic and willing to leave their homes today in order to find better economic opportunities on the U.S. side of the border.

The United States needs to address the shortcomings of its current immigration system and provide a comprehensive solution to the people already living here, many of whom are doing so in the shadows, and to regulate future flows.

Together, Mexico and the United States need to work with the realities of having a labor-abundant country such as Mexico next to a capital-abundant country like the United States. Together, we must promote a legal, orderly and secure flow of people across our borders.

Every 12 years, presidential elections in Mexico and the United States coincide. This year, both countries will vote. The challenge is to armor the bilateral relationship, and to build upon on what has been achieved.

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Ana Luisa Fajer is the Consul of Mexico in St. Paul. The Star Tribune Editorial Board and the Minnesota International Center are partners in "Great Decisions," a monthly dialogue discussing foreign-policy topics. Want to join the conversation? Go to www.micglobe.org.