Calderón’s uncompromising hard line on drug dealers in Mexico, an unrelenting offensive that follows the precedent set by Uribe in dealing with the FARC, has also been helped because economic growth has muted domestic opposition. The emerging Uribe-Lula-Calderón troika has geo-strategic influence because things have started to change in Cuba ever since Fidel Castro formally handed over the presidency to his brother, Raúl.