Vicente Fox, president of Mexico from 2000 to 2006, will speak today at the Turner Construction Student Forum in Hughes-Trigg at 4:30 p.m. and at the Omni Hotels Tate Lecture in McFarlin Auditorium at 8 p.m.
Fox’s election as Mexico’s 62nd president in 2000 ended the seven-decade rule of the Institutional Revoutionary Party. When Fox took office, it was the first time an incumbent president peacefully relinquished his power to an elected opponent in Mexico.
Fox’s presidency also produced an unprecedented stability in Mexico’s economy. As president, Fox helped Mexico control inflation, reduce poverty and achieve the lowest unemployment rate in Latin America.
Fox left office this year after a contintious presidential election between PAN candidate Felipe Calderón and PRD candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Calderón won by a razor-thin margin.
Before he became involved in politics, Fox was a rancher and businessman who was the supervisor of Coca-Cola’s operation in Mexico and all of Latin America.
Students interested in attending the student forum, which is a question-and-answer session, should obtain tickets from the Mane Desk in Hughes-Trigg with an SMU ID. The student forum will take place from 4:30 to 5:20 p.m.
In order to attend the Tate lecture, students can wait in the basement of McFarlin Auditorium where student tickets are distributed starting at 7:30. There are a limited number of student tickets for the Tate Lectures, and the line often begins to form a couple hours before the lecture begins. Tate Lectures begin by 8 p.m. and end by 9:15 p.m.