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Fox to raise delicate themes at Bush ranch

Photograph by : CR Files

Story by : CR Staff

Mexican President Vicente Fox will meet with his counterpart George W. Bush at the U.S. president's ranch in Crawford, Texas this weekend.

The meeting seems a sign that bilateral relations are returning to their pre-September 11 coziness but few major surprises are anticipated.

Fox and his aides have said they will pressure Bush on immigration issues and Bush will likely remind Fox that Mexico's commitment to the "war on terror" is still needed and appreciated.

Progress has been made on both issues recently. Bush has proposed a program that stops just shy of amnesty for illegal aliens while the Mexican government has heeded U.S. requests to turn back or cancel flights that have been deemed terrorist threats -- despite the criticism this cost Fox at home.

The Mexican government even investigated a number of cancelled and delayed flights in December and January for real risks and found no evidence of potential terrorism.
Fox's undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Geronimo Gutierrez, said in a press conference March 2 that Fox will be prepared to discuss a number of delicate themes with Bush, including an ongoing dispute over water distribution on the border with Texas and executions of Mexican nationals in the United States.

At Mexico's request, the International Court in The Hague asked the United States to stay the executions of three Mexicans on death row until it had reviewed a case where the Mexicans in question were subjected to rights violations guaranteed under international treaties.

The United States has continued legal proceedings against the Mexicans on death row and recently set an execution date for one of them.

Fox and Bush, both portrayed as down-to-earth cowboys at home, started their administrations with close ties. It seemed one of their first joint achievements would be an immigration accord for the four million Mexicans living illegally in the United States but the September 11 attacks gave Washington other international priorities. Mexico also fell out of favor with Bush for not supporting the war on Iraq and Fox cancelled a visit to Texas in protest of an execution of a Mexican national.

http://www.guadalajarareporter.com/fullcover.cfm?id=2

...Fox said he would discuss plans with Bush to unite North American nations in "a united bloc to confront the challenges of other regions of the world."

He said the first decade of the North American Free Trade Agreement had been successful, but added, "we need to promote new initiative that will bring us great integration and greater growth of our economies."

http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_5458.shtml