Denise Dresser: public letter to Carlos Slim
Instead of being the solution, is the problem
Dear engineer,
I write you this letter as a citizen, consumer and as a Mexican who is concerned about the country’s destiny and the role you play in its present and future. I have read carefully the words you said in the forum “Qué hacer para crecer” and I have thought over their implications. Your stance on various topics brought to mind that famous phrase ascribed to the chairman and CEO of GM, who said “what’s good for General Motors is good for America”. I believe you think alike, what’s good for Carlos Slim, Telmex, Telcel and Grupo Carso is good for Mexico, it is not like this however. You perceive yourself as the solution when you have become part of the problem. You perceive yourself as a statesman with the ability to diagnose the country’s ills when you have contributed to create them. You perceive yourself as an indispensable savior when you have blocked development reprehensibly. Hence the contradictions, the gap and distortion that plagued your speech, you said the most noticeable aspects.
You say that is necessary go from an urban and industrialized society to a service, technological and, information society. This is true however, Mexico’s transition becomes difficult to the extent that telecommunications costs are so high, telephone service is so expensive, and the broadband penetration is so low. This is the result of the predominance you and your companies have over the market. In other words, in your speech you suggest something that in real life you are committed to impede.
You emphasize the need to promote productivity and competition, however, over the years you have been protected by the court before regulatory efforts that seek these. You welcome competition but as long as it is not promoted in your sector. You say there is no need to worry about the growth of the GDP and that the most important thing is to care about the jobs that people like you provide. Nonetheless, it is just the lack of economic growth that explains the high unemployment rate in Mexico from years ago. Moreover, the lack of growth is directly connected with the persistence of performing anti-competitive actions that people like you justify.
You deliver the message that foreign investment must be seen with fear and ambivalence. You say that “the modern companies are the old armies”. The armies would conquer territories and charged tribute. You say, hopefully we won’t enter into a “Sell Mexico” phase to foreign investors and you negotiate in your own way so that foreign investment won’t be allowed regarding phone services. But at the same time, you as a foreign investor in America just invested millions of dollars in The New York Times, Saks stores and Citigroup. From your no nonsense perspective, foreign investment is okay and must be applauded. However, it must be rejected when in Mexico.
You reaffirm that “we need to be competitive in this information society and we need competition; I agree with the competition”. But at the same time, in recent days you have expressed your opposition to promote it. You discredited, for instance, the interconnection program that seeks to level the playing field for everybody. You say it is essential to boost small and medium enterprises yet your company- Telmex- forces these businesses to submit to telecommunications costs that slow growth and expansion down.
You say that the middle class has shrunk, that people have no income, and there’s must be better income distribution. The diagnosis is correct, but I am surprised by the lack of understanding of how you contribute to this situation. The chairman of the Federal Competition Commission explains it very clearly. Consumers spend 40 percent more than they should because of the lack of competition in these sectors such as telecommunications. The higher price is paid by the poor.
You suggest that the main reasons why Mexico lags behind fall on the government, the inefficiency of government bureaucracy, corruption, inappropriate infrastructure, the lack of access to financing, crime and public monopolies. With no doubt all the above contribute to the lack of competition, however private monopolies such as yours also do.
You speak about the need “to go through an economic model imposed as an ideological dogma” that has produced mediocre growth. But just this model, of regulatory failure and government collusion, has allowed people like you to get the fortune you now have, worth 59 billion dollars. From your point of view, the model is wrong, but it can not be changed according to your particular way of building wealth.
The detailed review of your words and your performance during more than a decade reveals a serious problem. There’s a gap between how you perceive yourself and the harmful impact of your performance. There is a contradiction between what you suggest and what you do, you suffer from shortsightedness that leads you to see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye.
You see yourself as a great man of great ideas that deserve to be heard. However, that day before the representatives, senators and public opinion, you did not talk about the great investments you were about to make, the great infrastructure projects you were about to promote, the jobs you were about to create, the social commitment and nothing about the characteristics of the new economic model that you would support. Instead of it, you threatened us and told us words, words and, more words – that the economic situation would be worse and before this; no one should touch you, regulate you, question you, or force you to compete. Besides, that day government published the Interconnection Program that seeks just these. You, in response, made the announcement that Telmex would cut its investment plan. You showed yourself as someone willing to hurt Mexico if you don’t get what you want and when you want it. You had the opportunity to grow but instead you belittled yourself.
With no doubt, you have the right to promote your interests, but the problem here is that you make it at the expense of the country. You have the freedom of speech to say your ideas but by your behavior, it is hard to see you as a praiseworthy, altruistic, and an unselfish activist who seeks Mexico’s development. Without a doubt, you have an unique and admirable talent, and you know where, when, and how to invest. As well you display another less attractive characteristic; you know where, when, and how to put pressure on, blackmail legislators, regulatory bodies, media, judges, journalists and the left-wing party intelligentsia, as well as the ones who are misguided by a misunderstood nationalism. Therefore, the exploitation of Mexican people because –at least- you are not an alien.
You will probably discredit this letter in many ways as you discredit criticism of others. You may say I envy your fortune as others do or I have a personal problem or that I am a reseltful person. It is not like this however. I write with the shared discomfort by millions of Mexicans who are tired of outrageous phone bills; tired of inconceivable contracts, tired of transferring incomes, tired of thieving companies, tired of civil servants that occasionally criticize monopolies but don’t do anything to dismantle them. Sadly I write with frustration and disappointment when I witness the behavior of someone who could be better, someone who could devote time to innovate instead of blocking, someone who could successfully compete but rather to be protected constantly, someone who could give a lot back to the country but chooses to keep taking advantage of it, someone who could become the most influential philanthropist but insists on being the most insensitive plutocrat. John F Kennedy once said; that great crises produce great men. It is a shame that in this critical moment for Mexico, you insist on showing us that you do not aspire to be one.
