CIA FEARS MEXICO'S NEXT CHIEF IS LEFTIST

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP94B00280R000700170011-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 1, 2011
• Sequence Number: 11
• Publication Date: October 16, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2011/03/01: CIA-RDP94B0028OR000700170011-2
THE WASHINGTON POST
. , FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1987 E5
JACK ANDERSON and DALE VAN ATTA
CIA Fears Mexico's Next. Chief Is Leftist
The "president-designate" of Mexico, budget
boss Carlos Salinas de Gortari, will be as
reasonable in his dealings with the United
States as his mentor, President Miguel de la
Madrid, has been, our sources in Mexico say.
But the Central Intelligence Agency isn't so sure
about Salinas. The agency is afraid the future
president is a leftist, who will not only promote
socialist economic policies but who will prove to be
an obstreperous and troublesome opponent of
Washington's foreign policy objectives, particularly
in Central America.
Salinas' selection as the candidate of the ruling
Institutional Revolutionary Party, known as the
PRI, which hasn't lost a national election in 58
years, followed the outward pattern of such
designations, but with a significant difference. In
the past, the imperial Mexican presidents have
chosen their successors in strict secrecy, and
without consulting party leaders.
De la Madrid confided in a private interview
earlier this year with Dale Van Atta that he would
make his decision on a successor only after
extensive consultation with PRI leaders. He went
further than that, in fact: He promised that the list
of possible candidates "will be published when the
time comes," which was in August.
De la Madrid declined to say which of the six
possible candidates he was leaning toward, and his
choice surprised many Mexican political observers.
But we had received strong hints from various
sources that he would settle on the uncharismatic,
Harvard-trained economist, and his decision makes
a lot of sense.
Salinas was the gray eminence of de la Madrid's
Cabinet, the behind-the-scenes strategist who
devised and implemented much of the president's
economic reform program. Choosing Salinas as his
successor was proof that de la Madrid understands
the seriousness of Mexico's economic situation, and
intends to make sure that the reforms will continue
after he leaves office next year.
Sources in Mexico City tell us that Salinas was
the chief architect of what might be called Mexico,'s
attempt at a Reagan-Thatcher type of
"privatization": selling off money-losing public
corporations and buoying the private sector. Part of
the policy is to eliminate protectionist policies that
Salinas believes are counterproductive and
inflationary.
Our evaluation of Salinas, based on conversations
with him and sources in Mexico, is that he is a
capitalist in a thin socialist disguise.
The CIA disagrees. A secret profile we obtained
has this to say:
"Salinas is an ambitious technocrat and an expert
economist. He has been a protege of de la Madrid's
since the mid-1970s .... He has good family
connections, he became active in the PRI early on,
and he has excellent academic credentials.
"When he first emerged as a force to be
reckoned with in early 1984, most local observers
saw him as favoring business and free enterprise,
but more recent reporting from reliable sources
indicates that he belongs to the left wing of the
PRI, and he may favor greater state domination of
corporations that are now owned mostly by U.S.
and multinational firms."
Approved For Release 2011/03/01: CIA-RDP94B00280R000700170011-2