Calderón´s rival Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who declared himself the "legitimate" president, has faded from view: He now hosts a TV show airing at 1 a.m. on Tuesdays, and his "parallel" government seems dedicated mostly to holding news conferences.

Calderón also has set himself apart from his predecessor Vicente Fox, widely criticized for being slow to respond while Mexico spiraled out of control with protests and drug violence.

His government quickly arrested Oaxacan protest leader Flavio Sosa, deflating a movement to oust the state governor that had become violent as armed gangs and police fought protesters.

While there´s been little evident progress in resolving that dispute, the relative calm there prompted the U.S. State Department last week to downgrade its travel advisory for Oaxaca, saying Americans should use caution instead of avoiding it altogether.

Calderón also has taken on drug gangs, sending more than 17,000 troops to regions where rival cartels are fighting bloody turf wars and vowing to restore order after a year when more than 2,000 people died in drug violence.

On Friday, authorities extradited four alleged major drug kingpins, including purported Gulf cartel leader Osiel Cárdenas, to the United States - a sign that Calderón is keeping a promise to work with U.S. officials in a cross-border fight against crime.

"There is more calm and certainty in Mexico now than at the beginning of my mandate," Calderón declared at a news conference. "We have a well-defined governmental project and a clear strategy to carry it out."

Mexicans concerned about human rights violations by police and soldiers, however, worry that this law-and-order drive may lead to more of the rape and torture allegations long blamed on Mexico´s security forces, especially given his choice of Interior Secretary: Francisco Ramírez Acuña, blamed for a violent response to demonstrators when he was governor of Jalisco in 2004.

Calderón has made moves to appeal to the leftists: He has cut his salary by 10 percent, and launched programs to help the 100 poorest communities and to provide free medical attention to newborn babies.

Critics contend such measures are mostly show, allowing Calderón to appear in military garb and hold up poor babies, while doing little to change deep-rooted problems.

But Calderón has managed to work with lawmakers from López Obrador´s Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), who wrestled with ruling National Action Party (PAN) legislators in a failed attempt to prevent his inauguration on Dec. 1. Since then, Congress has approved his 2007 budget with few changes and PRD lawmakers say they´ll cooperate on major reform laws.

"We don´t have amnesia about the electoral fraud. But the reality is that Calderón is de-facto president," said Rep. Juan Guerra, the PRD´s legislative co-ordinator. "We all need to get to work so Mexico moves forward."

Calderón aides say he´s preparing big reforms in fiscal policy and the justice system, but hasn´t released details because he wants to build consensus before going public with major changes.

Mexico currently only collects about 10 percent of its gross domestic product in taxes, the second worst rate in Latin America after Guatemala, and investors say the nation needs to change its financing or face a crisis, especially as oil revenues decline.

The justice system needs an overhaul to provide long-term domestic security, Calderón has said, including oral trials and juries - a more open system to replace one in which convictions are often based on written confessions given to police under allegations of torture and approved by judges behind closed doors.

Calderón will send both reform proposals to Congress after it reconvenes in March.

Critics contend Calderón´s problems are not over yet.

"The fireworks have stopped but now we have a slow burning," said historian Lorenzo Meyer. "There are still many angry people and unresolved problems that will explode into conflict."

Others argue that the leftist protest movement has proved to be a paper tiger.

"The movement depended on media attention and party funds," political analyst Oscar Aguilar said. "Once the money ran out and the media lost interest, everything went back to normal."