As the presidential jet landed in the upmarket coastal resort of Cabo San Lucas, President Vicente Fox told me there were no discoteques. "The resort is too expensive for the young. It is for the wealthy and executives." It was also for the delegates to the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit, taking place at the end of October, and the reason for the Mexican president to pay a visit.
"There are discoteques," the man in charge of organising APEC's first meeting in Latin America protested later. "They just don't let him out at night." Whether or not Mr Fox is allowed to go dancing at night, he is fresh from the success of his handling of the Pemex affair, which saw his approval ratings shoot up to more than 60% from less than 50%. He managed to ensure workers at the state-owned Pemex oil monopoly called off their threat to strike, which would have paralysed the country, and settled for a 7.3% wage and benefit increase rather than their earlier 15% demand.
