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The Mexican politicians view the U.S. as the perfect whipping boy and have seized on this event to make political hay... most Mexicans aren't buying it.

That's the way I see it. The only people in Mexico who cared about this execution are the liberals who have run that country for generations. They run most of the newspapers and they control the legislature that has blocked Fox's attempts at reform every step of the way.

The average Mexican could care less about this executed murderer. It's not even clear he was born in Mexico. He certainly didn't grow up there or try to return.

I didn't think Fox would cancel this meeting, but he must have done so for domestic political reasons. It's entirely possible that both Bush and Fox decided that calling it off would give Fox more credibility at home, something he needs. We need it, too.

We had hoped that Fox's election ushered in a new era in Mexico, but the entrenched liberals who still control the legislature have prevented that dream. Bush had nothing to offer Fox at this meeting, and Fox had nothing to give. I don't think for a second that Fox cared about the execution.

Texas has executed Mexican nationals before, and it will do so again. This "protest" was all about something else.

But I do agree with everything you wrote about the average Mexican doesn't care about the executed man. They'd rather have our kind of laws than the laws they have in Mexico, plus you look at cities like El Paso compared with Juarez, Fox has a lot of work as far as trying to get murder rates ---he should wonder why El Paso's murder rate is so low and Juarez's has one of the world's highest.

This was more about political posturing by Fox.

It helps shut up the folks who accuse him of pandering too much to Bush (ironic he's dealing with folks like that, IMHO). Hopefully, Fox can get a better Mexican Congress, and he can get the reforms he wants passed. If he can do that, it might make things a lot easier for us.