Mexico: Bare Bones

The President calls for cuts

It was hardly the fiesta that Mexicans have come to expect when a new President takes office. Indeed, by past standards, last week's inauguration of Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado, 47, as Mexico's 21st President since the 1910 revolution was a distinctly low-budget affair. Gone were the sleek limousines that had carried dignitaries to past ceremonies, the flower petals carpeting the streets and the thousands of peasant farmers bused into the capital at public expense. Instead the guests pulled up in ordinary black sedans, the streets were strewn with confetti rather than flowers, and masses of...

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