The program currently distributes money to about 2.6 million rural families as long as parents keep their children in school. Because Fox is the first president in 71 years not to belong to Mexico's former ruling party, expectations are high that he'll forge a better country during his six-year term. But corruption in the form of tax evasion has provided Mexicans with a way of thumbing their noses at crooked government officials who have routinely looted public treasuries. Many are still reluctant to believe that Fox's government will fulfill promises to distribute revenue, not pocket it. Moreover, at least one-third of Mexicans live off unreported economic activities.
Every peso counts.
Paying more, she said, means eating less. To counter panic, Fox's public health officials are coming up with a list of 100 essential drugs used to treat chronic illnesses like diabetes, high blood pressure and AIDS that would continue to be exempt. But Fox's political opponents are seizing the day. She joined women's groups and members of her leftist Democratic Revolution Party, the PRD, who are vowing to block the food and medicine taxes. Mexico's former ruling party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party, the PRI, also joined the chorus denouncing Fox's proposal.