Saturday, March 15, 2008

Calderon - The end of his remarks -FINALLY!

I want to tell you, friends, I am not a President who is willing…I am not going to resign myself to watching us lose the best of our people.

I am determined to transform Mexico because I know it is possible to transform Mexico from a country that has been knocked down by delinquency, crime, corruption to a Mexico where the law is the same for everyone and where our families can go out and play, study, work, and live in peace and dignity.

Yes it possible to transform Mexico from a backward economy and develop it into a powerful, strong economy that grows and generates jobs.

Some analysts like Goldman Sachs say that Mexico can become the fifth largest economy in the world by the year 2050. I am telling you, coutrymen, that we are going to transform our economy, we are making the right decisions, we are facing short term political costs now because we are determined to make Mexico the fifth largest economy in the world that creates jobs and creates growth for our children.

It is possible to transform a Mexico from a country with enormous differences, the poverty you know exists, to a country that can provide equal opportunities for all.

This is why we are investing over 20 billion dollars a year for education and health. This is why we are working hard for the people who don’t have a doctor, medicine…so they can truly have access to it.

For those who aren’t on Social Security, for those who aren’t on ISSSTE, the previous government started to create Popular Insurance.

I received the Popular Insurance program with 14 million beneficiaries when I began my Presidency. We have added to the Secretary of Health budget 60 percent for health. Now there are 23 million beneficiaries and by the year 2010 there will be 37 million.

With what we achieve in Mexico en 2011 all Mexicans will be covered by medical insurance, by universal health coverage.

We have also begun a program in which I promised during the election campaign that no child born in our great country would go without basic medical insurance. From the first day of my presidency we have provided medical insurance for a new generation. What this means is that any boy or girl by the very fact that they were born in Mexico has medical insurance for life for him or her and for all the family.

Yes, it is possible friends, to transform Mexico. You come from regions where you have seen our loss of forests and jungles. Every year we lose around 300,000 hectares of forest land.

We are determined to recover our Mexico because this Mexico is our fatherland and must last forever. When your children someday return, because we are working on it, one day Mexico will have the necessary conditions so the people can return and live with dignity, where someday our children and grandchildren will be in Mexico…they can then see what we received from our grandparents…the natural resources, the forests, and the jungles. We are working hard on the environment.

Last year the United Nations began a program to plant millions of trees around the world…thousands of millions. In Mexico alone last year we planted more than 250 million trees, more than a fourth of the world goal.

We are working because it is possible to transform our country. With our reforestation effort that we did, we are reforesting twice as many hectares as we lose every year through fires or harvesting.

Friends of Illinois. Mexicans. I want to announce that this morning I was with leaders from diverse organizations and communities and I took particular note of the worries, the needs, and the complaints that you have here.

You can be sure that the Government of Mexico will be close to you. We are going to work, and work hard, shoulder to shoulder, elbow to elbow with you to reverse this practice of harassment, disrespect, discrimination that in some cases in know is the public opinion in the United States against migrants and against Mexicans.

We are also going to work hard to build an atmosphere that will permit us to have agreements that will allow and generate a legal framework all can agree upon for a legal, ordered, and secure migration, which is exactly what will make this economy grow and create the next step in the phenomenon of a natural weight between the United States and Mexico.

That we will continue working so that Mexico becomes a grand and strong country…that it creates jobs…to make it so that our people never again have to leave in search of a better future.

And finally, let me tell you that those of us who are still in Mexico are there working hard. We miss you very much. Because everyone, at least in my land in Michoacan, have a relative, a cousin, a brother-in-law in the United States.

That our families pray and pray hard every day for you, for loved ones who are with us always, but who many times have not been able to return for reasons we all know.

We miss you greatly. We work hard so that one day our great nation will achieve growth levels so we can meet again.

Yes, it is possible to transform Mexico, friends. Yes, it is possible to change our Mexico and we are working hard, thanks to you and the support you send to your people, the support of the programs that make it possible for production projects and public works.

That is our persistence. That is our work. The reason I am here is to tell you this: Regardless of how hard your circumstances now, we are with you. We are firmly with you.

And know that wherever there is a Mexican in the United States, the government of Mexico will be there to support you.

Thank you very much. And may God bless you.

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