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Mexico's Fox Hails Bush Visit, Press Skeptical
Mexico's leader Vicente Fox hailed on Saturday what he described as important advances on the thorny issues of drug trafficking and illegal immigration during a one-day visit by US President George W. Bush.
But local newspapers were less impressed, saying the visit on Friday was upstaged by joint US-British air attacks launched on targets near Baghdad while Fox hosted Bush at his central Mexico ranch.
In his weekly radio address, Fox praised Bush for publicly recognizing during their joint news conference that rampant US drug consumption was in large part the cause of the international narcotics trade in which Mexico has become a key player.
Fox said it was "very probable" its northern neighbor would suspend for two years its evaluation of Mexico's cooperation in fighting drug trafficking + an annual source of friction between the two major trade partners.
Mexicans view the so-called certification process, which includes the potential for sanctions, as demeaning and a breach of its sovereignty.
"The process of suspending certification has begun," Fox said.
On Thursday a group of US senators from border states introduced a bill to waive the yearly counter-narcotics certification for Mexico for one year.
Mexico is a producer of marijuana and opium poppies, the raw material for heroin, and a major transshipment point for Colombian cocaine. Some US legislators and anti-narcotics agents have criticized the Mexican anti-drug effort as inept and plagued by corruption.
Fox also said there had been a sea change on the immigration issue, with Bush recognizing the US need for Mexican labor as its "baby boom" generation ages.
Mexico wants the United States to allow into the country Mexican "guest workers," legalizing their work north of the border.
"I think this is wonderful," Fox said. "Such a possibility has never been discussed before."
Some 8.2 million Mexicans live in the United States, about one third of them illegally.
The two leaders decided to quickly begin high-level negotiations to find agreement on immigration and labor issues as the United States tries to balance the need for law enforcement with demand for workers on to pick lettuce, pound nails, and wait on tables.
PRESS LAMENT US PROTAGONISM
But the Mexican press were disappointed the visit, which had been anticipated with great fanfare, was ultimately overshadowed by the first major military action of the Bush administration that grabbed headlines worldwide.
Reporters peppered the presidents' news conference on Friday with questions about the bombing, which Bush said was aimed at enforcing no-fly zones in Iraq established after the 1991 Gulf War.
"Iraq spoils Fox's fiesta," read the banner headline in the Reforma daily.
The left-leaning La Jornada went as far as to say the bombing was a not-so-subtle message from Washington that Mexico should cooperate with its northern neighbor, especially in providing much needed energy resources.
"Over the meeting, described as working and informal, floated a dark and formal threat of military power ready to be used against the most faithful allies and servants," the Mexico City daily said.
(www.chinadaily.com.cn
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