Mexico was awaiting hope, not miracles; on Tuesday, November 4th, 2008, it officially came in the name of the United States President-elect, Barack Obama.

Bilateral corruption, mistrust, and exploitation are souvenirs of our love-hate, dependent, yet independent relationship with our great Northern neighbor. In the last eight years, illegal immigration and drug related violence has marred even further our brittle bilateral relation.

Under George W. Bush, the United States has not lived up to its historic role as a leader in the Western Hemisphere. As president, I will restore that leadership by working to advance the common prosperity and security of all of the people of the Americas. That work must begin with a renewed strategic partnership with Mexico.

Mr. Bush took office vowing to make the Americas a top priority. But over the last seven years, the administration’s approach to this issue has been clumsy, disinterested and, above all, distracted by the war in Iraq. Indeed, relations have not fully recovered since Mexico refused to fall in line with President Bush’s rush to war.

Mexico seeks to renew relations with the United States, in a fair and frank manner. We do not seek to legalize the illegal. A bilateral urgent decision is imperative regarding the over twenty million illegal immigrants in the States, but demonizing and scapegoating our nationals must end. Hate crimes against Mexicans, legal and illegal, have spiked in despicable numbers across the United States, more ofton than not, these crimes are unpunished.

We hope, Presidents Calderon and Obama, will be able to work as a team, in fighting the violence and deaths associated with drug trafficking. President Bush wanted to send $400,000 million in efforts to keep his half of the drugwar in our battlefield, it simply won’t work. Bilateral reform and national efforts within each country will be needed as narco-terrorist continue killing us to get to them.

Former Foreign Minister Jorge Castañeda wrote in the Reforma newspaper that the Obama presidency represents a chance for Mexico to remake its relationship with the United States. “Obama’s win ... opens to Mexico an extraordinary opportunity to re-position itself in the world because it will be infinitely easier to be a neighbor, ally and friend of the United States.”

President Calderon has proven himself in Mexico, as a man who is willing to fight; create change. He is strong, intellectual, and unafraid of making waves in corruption enforced compliance’s tranquil seas. He is a man who takes responsibilities and openly admits to errors. President Calderon wants to look past getting “his way”, and seeks to find the way. The way to create mutual, bilateral, security, respect, and progress.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon released a statement late Tuesday that praised Obama and expressed his confidence “that the relationship between both countries will begin a new stage of progress based on shared responsibility, frank and respectful dialogue and mutual trust.”

Mexico, for the first time in decades, is awakening from a long, incumbent slumber. We, as a nation, are seeing our needs are not and have not been met; we are admitting it was due to our own weak, ignorant compliance. We are stuggling, but once again, finally learning to stand. We hope to be seen and respected by President Obama as a State in Repair, not an enemy of his State, drowning in dispair.

We have hopes for humanity, a return of basic bilateral values of life. We have dreams not of miracles, but change.

“We are all children of God, as the saying goes, even Mexicans. That a black man can win, that catches my attention.”