The question and answer session with former Mexican president Vicente Fox was going as planned Monday night at the Landmark Theatre, and then the crowd witnessed some genuine improvisation.

An audience member interrupted the Q&A by loudly and unrelentingly asking Fox a question in Spanish – up to this point, a Student Association member had been reading pre-selected questions written by the crowd.

Fox almost ignored the question, but then something compelled him to respond.

He walked to the edge of the stage and began spitting off a response in his native tongue. The audience was dumbfounded with the sudden change in language.

The questioner demanded an explanation regarding an investigation in the Mexican Congress spearheaded by Fox’s political rivals scrutinizing his financial records. Fox was obviously irritated by the comments and directed the audience to a Web site where he has published his financial information for his past 15 years of public life – a first in Mexican politics, he said.

When the exchange was over, Fox thanked the questioner – in both Spanish and English – for the opportunity to tell the audience about his Web site.

‘What I tell persons like you is: Let us together find out the truth,’ said Fox, adding that his site responds to the accusations using facts and documents.

The majority of the crowd – which filled less than half of the Landmark Theatre – applauded his rebuttal of the interrupting questioner, who ended up asking the final question of the evening.

SA President Ryan Kelly said the speech was what he expected though different than past experiences.

‘One of the things is whenever you have a politically minded speaker, you are going to have controversy,’ Kelly said. ‘You are going to have people who are going to be passionate.’

Kelly said he doesn’t think controversy is bad; he just wanted the audience members to be more respectful and use more etiquette when challenging Fox’s viewpoints.

‘People have the right to say whatever they want – freedom of speech,’ he said.

There was only one other outbreak during the address, as an audience member began yelling hysterically before being removed to a chorus of applause.

The speech was co-sponsored by SA, University Union and New York Public Interest Research Group, as an encore to former Vice President Al Gore’s political speech last fall.

Fox, who served as Mexican president until 2006, is touring the United States to promote his autobiography ‘Revolution of Hope: The Life, Faith and Dreams of a Mexican President.’ He said the book was aimed at Americans to help educate them and replace misinformation concerning both immigrants and Mexico as a country.

‘I decided to address it to U.S. public opinion,’ he said in an interview with reporters before his speech.

And his speech was directed at an American audience, too.

Speaking in fluent English coated with a baritone Spanish accent, Fox encouraged Syracuse University students to take advantage of the opportunities offered while studying at an American university.

He noted that only 22 out of every 100 children in Mexico have the opportunity to attend college. But he then challenged American students with the task of learning and venturing into the world to help more students across the globe obtain an education.

Fox focused his speech on immigration reform. He said that since Sept. 11, ‘fear is dominating this debate.’ He then made it clear he doesn’t think that ‘immigrants can be terrorists.’

‘I see xenophobes getting in the scene,’ Fox said, condemning Americans that use violent, aggressive behavior to stop illegal immigrants from crossing the border, which he says violates human rights. ‘I’m calling for a wise decision and a common-sense decision. This can be a win-win situation.’

Fox, like President George W. Bush, supports the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill, which stalled in Congress during the summer. The bill would have allowed some illegal immigrants to become U.S. citizens and increased guest worker programs.

It is the inaction of the federal government that is shifting immigration issues into the hands of locals, he said, specifically calling out the ‘Minute Men’ who defend the Texas-Mexico border.

Fox wasn’t completely supportive of the United States president, though.

‘I think the U.S. should withdraw as soon as possible from Iraq,’ Fox said to stirring applause. He added that he clearly disagreed with Bush’s decision to bypass United Nations unilateral support before invading Iraq.

He shot down the suggestion that America should build a wall to keep out illegal immigrants, pointing to the Berlin Wall and the Great Wall of China as examples of walls that don’t work.

‘We should be building bridges instead of walls,’ Fox said. ‘Immigration is an asset to any nation.’

The address was built off an ironic tale from Fox’s family history. His grandfather came from Cincinnati, Ohio to Mexico seeking to find a better job, but carrying with him across the boarder the ideals of freedom, democracy and equality.

‘He made his American dream in Mexico,’ Fox said.

Kelly, SA president, said this was interesting because it was the opposite of what most Americans typically think of as immigration.

Alvaro Fernandez, a master of business administration candidate slated to graduate in 2009, said Fox has always been seen as ‘a pro-American guy.’

‘To be honest, it’s what is expected,’ Fernandez, a Venezuelan citizen, said after the speech.

Fox did speak at length about his respect and love for America, but he dedicated the middle of his speech to his home country and Latin America.

‘I am absolutely convinced that the 21st century is the century of Latin America,’ he said.

He argued that the North American Free Trade Agreement, signed during the presidency of Bill Clinton, needs to be reinvigorated and that global organizations such as the United Nations and World Bank must be updated to meet the region’s needs.

‘So my American dream is highly associated with Latin America working together with the U.S. and Canada,’ said Fox, concluding his remarks and reintroducing the American Dream theme. ‘This is what I learned from my father and grandfather, and this is what I wanted to share with you.’

He knows his country is still behind its North American continental partners, as the average salary in the United States is six times that of the average Mexican worker. Fox said wealth will only be created by responsible governance.

‘When you don’t have democracy, you have corruption,’ he said.

Chief among a slew of economic statistics he bombarded the audience with was a projection by Goldman Sachs that Mexico would become the fifth largest economy in the world by 2040.

Fox also ventured into a diatribe of the drug trafficking situation at the Mexican-American border often associated with the immigration debate. He said the drugs were consumed in American cities, such as New York and Chicago, and grown in Latin American countries south of Mexico, including Venezuela.

Mexico is taking the hit for production problems in other countries and America’s drug consumption crisis, he said.

Yet Fernandez, the Venezuelan master of business administration candidate, said after the speech that his native land is not known for drug production.

Christian Perez Romo’s complaint was directed toward the Q&A format. He didn’t understand why the questions focused on topics such as how Fox is spending his post-presidential tenure, not on more controversial issues.

‘Why can’t we ask him real questions?’ Romo, a 2009 master of business administration candidate at SU who is from Mexico, said. ‘I don’t understand him.’

Kelly said he thought Fox expressed his opinions by addressing controversial topics and leading undergraduates to discuss issues they wouldn’t usually have time for.

‘I thought it was pretty profound what he had to say,’ Kelly said.

Before Fox’s speech, the Raices Dance Troupe performed a choreographed dance featuring four couples.

And before the night’s festivities kicked off, there was protest vigil outside the Landmark, setting the tone for a night filled with tension.

Richard Vallejo of Syracuse led a coalition of organizations in a candlelight demonstration.

‘The message of this vigil is that we are demanding an explanation from Vicente Fox regarding the exploitation of farming communities throughout Mexico,’ Vallejo said.

His group wasn’t the last to demand an explanation from Fox Monday night. But they didn’t get an answer – as security told them they couldn’t stand under the Landmark’s marquee, moving them to a neighboring store front.

Published on October 29, 2007 at 12:00 pm