NewsMax.com Wires
Saturday, Feb. 17, 2001

Bush and Fox wrapped up daylong discussions held on Fox's ranch at San Cristobal outside Leon in central Mexico. The expansive ranch, awash in vibrant green foliage of broccoli and cauliflower, sits in the midst of a flat, dry dirt plain surrounded by barbed-wire fence.

The two men emerged from the main house of the ranch to hold a joint press conference to tout their strengthened friendship that was born when both men met as governors.

"Let me tell you, Mr. President, that you will always be welcome in this, your home," Fox said. "You know that we consider you a friend of Mexico, a friend of the Mexican people and a friend of mine."

The two leaders met as news emerged that Bush had ordered air attacks against Iraqi command-and-control and radar centers near Baghdad, which he and national security officials called a "routine act" to ensure the safety of military personnel stationed in the region. Bush was peppered with questions about the surprise during the joint press conference with Fox.

After a first month in office that mostly focused on domestic issues, the visit and the attack on the same day effectively announced Bush's presence on the global stage - the leader of a superpower that can be helpful friend and fierce foe.

National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said officials were happy about the page that had been turned in U.S.-Mexican relations during the one-day visit, as evidenced by what Secretary of State Colin Powell called the "Guanajuato Proposal," a framework of the principles and goals the leaders agreed on in their discussion.

"We talked about strengthening our trade relationship, which offers hope and opportunity on both sides of our border," Bush said. "We talked about how our two nations can work together to meet our current and future energy needs. We exchanged ideas about safe and orderly migration, a policy that respects individuals on both sides of the border.

"We talked about expanding educational opportunities. We talked about what we can do together to fight drug trafficking and other types of organized crime."

Fox and Bush agreed to conduct formal, high-level negotiations on migration that will be led by Powell, Attorney General John Ashcroft and Mexican foreign affairs officials.

"We have spoken on the firm idea that we have of fighting violence against immigrants," Fox said, "and to work based on the law" to solve the problem of Mexican workers entering the U.S. illegally, and often dangerously with the aid of so-called coyotes who spirit them across the border.

To address the economic development of border communities where many U.S. companies have set up factories, a Binational Commission will be set up to improve the efficiency of border operations. Officials plan to hold immediate discussions on the North American Free Trade Agreement decision on trucking. Fox wants Bush to further open the border to more trucks from Mexico that would travel onto U.S. roads, a move opposed by U.S. unions and environmentalists.

On one of the most contentious issues, drug certification, Bush said both countires needed to work on the drug issue, blaming high demand in the U.S. for the flow of drugs from Mexico.

An End to Drug Certification?

"The main reason why drugs are shipped through Mexico to the United States is because United States citizens use drugs," Bush said.

He alluded to a move to end the "certification" process in which the United States annually determines whether Mexico and other countries are doing enough to combat drugs. U.S. aid depends on the outcome, a process many Mexicans, including Fox, find demeaning.

"There is a movement in the country to review all the certification processes," Bush said.

Bush is open to some proposals on Capitol Hill that would ease the certification process, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.

Bush and Fox plan to consult with Canada to develop a North American - or what Bush has termed a "hemispheric" - approach to energy resources. The possibility exists that developing Mexico as an energy source would aid the U.S. western power grid, which has been experiencing serious energy shortages.

"We did talk about power, the generation of power; the possibility as to whether or not in Baja, for example, more power could be added to the Western grid."

Baja is the Mexican peninsula directly south of California. Bush said one "bottleneck" was "the ability to transmit power from south to north."

Bush also reaffirmed his support for a free-trade areas of the Americas. Mexico and the United States are slated to participate in the Summit of the Americas in April in Quebec City, Canada.

Copyright 2001 by United Press International. All rights reserved.

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