Vicente Fox served as the President of Mexico from 2000-2006. He was the first President of Mexico in 71 years that was not associated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party. Fox also served as the president of the Coca-Cola company in Mexico, increasing sales by almost 50 percent. He currently lives in Guanajuato, Mexico with family and has founded a presidential historical center, the Vicente Fox Center of Studies, Library and Museum.
What advice would you give to students thinking of a career in politics?
When you have those big dreams and heroic aspirations, you then get a lot of energy and you find a lot of potential within yourself.
What are your feelings on the wall being built near the U.S.- Mexican border?
My feeling is sadness, [with] lack of understanding why the leader of this great nation would decide to build the wall. I don’t understand what the fear is. I don’t understand why this nation would isolate itself from the rest of the world when this nation has been built by migrants coming from all over the world.
How has NAFTA changed the social structure of Mexico?
NAFTA has made a growth in exports and is a regulation in trade. Important are the exports coming from the U.S. to Mexico, these account for billions of jobs. So NAFTA has been good, and can be much better. My dream will be a process of further integration-a new mission for NAFTA.
What inspired you to pursue politics?
I would say basically my Jesuit education and my education at home, where I have found that searching for your own happiness you would reach faster when you work for others, when you work for your community.
How was your party able win the presidency, despite the
Institutional Revolutionary Party’s control in Mexico for 71 years?
It was a process step by step, fighting for change and fighting for freedom and democracy. [It] took many years, it was a long struggle for change, and I just happen to be the last on the line. In the year 2000 I had the opportunity to run, I was an outsider, my family had never been involved with politics, I had never been involved in politics, but as an outsider speaking for people I was able to bring in this huge movement that ended up getting PRI out of [power].
