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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
El Hijo Disobediente/The Disobedient Son, February 11, 2008
This review is from: Revolution of Hope: The Life, Faith, and Dreams of a Mexican President (Hardcover)
In order to read this book you should be objective not subjective. Have an open mind and try to listen to the man. I believe too many people have read(or lied and claimed to have read the book to push their own agenda)this book letting their own prejudices cloud their judgement of the book. It is a memoir of sorts, an autobigraphy if you will. It is not literature. Many authors who are first and foremeost not authors write with the help of a professional, for example, Lance Armstrong has enlisted the help of columnist Sally Jenkins in his books It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life and Every Second Counts. I mention this because some reviewers here have dismissed this book saying he did not write it. So what is this book about? It is one man's account of his rise to the Presidency in 2000 breaking the one-party rule of the PRI that had a stranglehold on the Mexican people for the previous seventy-one years. This in itself was a monumental accomplishment. But this book is much more than than just his personal rise to power. It is about his struggles, his parents and grandparents struggle to achieve a better life, an ongoing theme that seems to irritate many people when it comes to the immigration issue. BTW, his paternal grandfather emigrated in 1898 to Mexico from the United States (Ohio), seeking a better life because his business failed and his father was an American citizen! So you see, immigration goes north and south, with results that can often be amazing. Vicente Fox chronicles his youth and what it was like to live on the family ranch in San Cristobal in Guanajuato. He discusses his parents decision to send him to school in the U.S. and the effect that had on his youth. Like many Americans or Mexicans of Mexican descent,this traversing of the border can create conflicts on both sides of the border. As children we go where our parents tell us to go because they know best. In the end this was good for Vicente Fox as it allowed him to compare and take the desireable qualities of American life and later apply them to his leadership, first as the youngest CEO of Coca-Cola, on to Governor of Guanajuato and ultimately as President of Mexico. I found President Fox to be a man of integrity, commitment, strength, leadership and vision. People can agree to disagree, as Fox does with Bush but a bond is there between people who are seperated by a border. There is a mutual respect that these two leaders have for each other as the book indicates. His life is fascinating but his desire to create a better world is even more admirable. Politics aside you cannot be other than impressed with his commitment to the betterment of mankind. I was very impressed with his denuciation of the dictator, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and his good reltionship with President Bush. These two leaders were making progress with regards to immigration until 9/11. The summit meetings in San Cristobal prior to 9/11 were historic in many reagrds, not the least of which was the fact that this was President Bush's first foreign destination. If you do not let your personal views on immigration cloud your judgement I think you can find this autobiography quite compelling. His narration his part history lesson, part vision of the future. He incorporates the lessons of today, compares them with the past and creates a unique observation to the future. He cites examples from Europe on how through a common market the economies of the poorer European nations have leveled the playing field with the richer European nations. The Euro is stronger than the U.S. dollar. He believes that much can be done within our own hemisphere to create prosperity for all nations in the Americas. Canada,the United States and Mexico can be the torchbearers of this vison of economic unity and vitality. Vicente Fox's vison is honest, whether or not it will occurr in our lifetime is another question but naysayers should not write him off so quickly. He achieved the unthinkable, he defeated the PRI'S reign, so don't sell the man short, besides he's very tall, 6'5". Seriously though, Fox doesn't sugar coat his countries problems and presents Mexcio with all it's warts. He discusses the role of narcotrafficers and the devasting effect they have had on both sides of the border. Mexico's attempt to clamp down on these gangs and the cooperation between nations to prosecute. The key word here is cooperate, that is what neighbors must do. Hostility between neighbors, whether it is with regards to immigration or any other "hot" button issue will not solve anything, cooperation will. President Fox continues to fight the good fight with the Centro Fox and the expansion of Vamos Mexico Foundation by getting the help of the Carters, the Clintons and others to combat AIDS in Africa, preventing election fraud, raising funds for disaster relief and working for global democracy, peace and social justice. This is a good book about a good man. Recommended for those who envision a better tommorrow and like current events and autobiographies.
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10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Strong case for a open US, October 29, 2007
This review is from: Revolution of Hope: The Life, Faith, and Dreams of a Mexican President (Hardcover)
A common feature of Mexican politics are the "acarreados", people who get paid to attend demonstrations. One has to wonder, whether some of these people are now into reviewing books, as some of them do not actually appear to have read this book.
Surely, the book was mostly drafted by American Rob Allyn (as anyone who heard Fox speak in english would acknowledge) and of course as in any other politicians memoir you'll find more positive than negative recollections on his achievements, but a key subject along the book, consistent with many public statements made by Fox during his presidency and hopefully thought provoking, is his insistence on the US opening up his borders to more trade with and inmigration from Mexico.
In my view, he strongly supports this argument with a number of well documented facts, among others, the aging US population which will benefit from younger Mexican workers as well as the experience of the European Union, where countries such as Spain which some 25 years ago had similar GDP per cap as Mexico, grew out of poverty with the support of their richer neighbours who also benefited from the process as it enlarged new markets for their products (as in fact NAFTA by increasing US - Mexico trade fifteenfold or more, already helped create in Mexico a huge market for US exports).
Unfortunately, this important topic has been lost in the barrage of (many politically inspired) accusations against Fox and his wife, which true to his "bravado" style he has not handled very well.
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22 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The most honest book from a Mexican politician, October 14, 2007
This review is from: Revolution of Hope: The Life, Faith, and Dreams of a Mexican President (Hardcover)
After reading this book, I understand more clearly why the left, the opposition, and all those who don't want Mexico to change and prosper hated Fox to his guts. This book explains that the whole country was corrupted with indifference and conformity, and how his revolution of hope sought, with mixed success, to change this. He tried to gave Mexico a purpose, an entrepreneurial spirit, and a commitment. The opposition, on the other hand, only wanted Mexico to recieve what was given to them and not complain. This is his claim and political opinion.
It provides incredible insights into the Mexican situtation and his world view. It also provides proof of why integration and NAFTA is the only succesful way to compete agianst China, and recriminates the US for promoting free trade, and then going 180° and locking themselves in.
A thought-provoking book, Fox is insulting to those who disagree with him, but only because he is radical enough to propose that commitment, hope, initiative, innovation, and hard work are more important than patrotism, race, conformity and control, and the the key to a country's, a company's or a person's sucess is the former, while the latter can only produce failure.
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