Is Mexico's Pact for National Reform a Model to End Washington's Gridlock? The Christian Science Monitor
go to original March 25, 2013

Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto is flanked by Senate Deputy Chairman Francisco Arroyo Vieira, left, and Mexican Senate President Ernesto Cordero as he shows an agreement signed by him and the three major political parties that would create two new national television stations and form a powerful regulatory commission. Pena Nieto has been fast out of the blocks in attacking some of Mexico’s toughest issues in a country often stymied by monopolies and corruption. (Associated Press)

The moment is hard to predict. When does a nation or a person, after experiencing enough self-inflicted suffering, finally seek reform?

In Washington, the years of political gridlock in Congress have yet to lead to such a moment of reforming remorse. But perhaps the United States should look to a possible model – just to its south.

Since December, when Mexico’s three main political parties pledged to seek 94 reforms, that country has been on a turnaround from past stalemates and policy misdirections. It is as if Mexico had hit bottom, only to decide that its Congress must set aside some differences for the sake of the future.

Gridlock was finally seen as simply too costly. The nation’s drug-fueled gang violence had gone on too long. And new leaders in each party had opened a door for change.

Read the rest at The Christian Science Monitor

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