A PROMISING TURN FOR MEXICO

WHAT A difference a year makes for Mexico's President Felipe
Calderon. The conservative leader bested a liberal rival by less than
half a percentage point in elections last July, weathered weeks of
protests and survived a recount that froze the country's leadership for months.

Now his approval ratings are hitting the sky-high level of 65
percent. He has poured on the political smarts to launch a popular,
though inconclusive, war on drugs and managed to eke out modest
economic reforms. The shaky newcomer is now solidly in command.

Though he's flying high, there's always trouble ahead. His most
publicized push is the most risky. Calderon has gone all-out in
taking on the drug trade. He dumped federal police chiefs in the
country's 31 states and sent in the army to eradicate crops, knock
over meth labs and make arrests. More than 1,000 linked to the
narco-trade are in jail.

Mexico was once only a drug pass-through point, but now the traffic
has taken a huge toll. Some 2,000 murders per year are blamed on drug
gangs, who kill rivals, public officials, journalists and law
enforcement officials who dare to take on the kingpins.

Drug use among Mexicans is growing, making narcotics a home-front
issue. The dimensions can be shocking: lopped-off heads are sent as
warnings. A drug raid in March found $207 million in $100 bills in a
Mexico City mansion, believed the largest cash seizure in history.

An offensive was needed. So far, the drug war is a political winner,
bringing broad public support for Calderon. But the death count
hasn't dropped, and U.S. drug officials say there is no evidence that
smuggling is down. A U.N. study says cocaine prices are a third of 1990 levels.

A bigger challenge may be Mexico's ossified economic system. Here,
Calderon has pulled off a minor miracle. His predecessor, Vicente
Fox, was hailed as maverick who broke past 70 years of single-party
rule to win office, yet Fox got nowhere convincing the national
legislature to approve his changes.

By comparison, Calderon, who was once fired by Fox, has nudged
through a money-saving pension change obliging government workers to
stay on the job longer. Also, the country's credit rating has risen
and its stock market has soared. His next challenge is tightening a
lax tax system that collects 11 percent of the country's gross
domestic product compared to 27 percent in the United States.
Widening the tax take could wean the government off its reliance on a
nationalized oil industry for funds.

Dreams of better schools, health care or water systems go nowhere
without such changes. If Mexico City fails to deliver, citizens will
do what others have done for years: trek north across the border in
search of opportunity. Mexico's slowly spreading prosperity has yet
to reach half the country, who live on $4 per day. The country
suffers from a north-south income gulf pitting wealthier regions near
the U.S. border against impoverished farm country at the other end.

Strangely, Calderon's crusades have drawn little notice in the United
States where an estimated one-tenth of Mexico's 100 million people
live. For example, drug interdiction remains a middling priority for
security-obsessed American authorities though Mexico clearly wants
help. President Bush, who once showered former President Fox with
attention, has spent less time cultivating Calderon, a more successful leader.

Washington's indifference should give way to more active cooperation.
Narco-terror, illegal immigration, trade disputes -- the list of
problem topics is long. But one thing should help, and that is a
strong leader is in charge in Mexico City.