The following article states that Fox is forbidden to "kowtow" to Bush. Looks as tho' the strutting, ride 'em cowboy President feels he must play the sheepish amigo sidekick to Fox's macho Zorro.
Fox, Bush Trying to Thaw Friendship Friday, 09-Jan-2004 12:20PM Story from AP / SCOTT LINDLAW, Associated Press Writer
Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press (via ClariNet)
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox, the boots-wearing, ranch-owning "dos amigos," are trying to thaw their friendship after a frosty two years.
The downward spiral began after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which pushed Bush away from an immigration overhaul that Fox badly wanted. Relations soured even more when Mexico refused to support the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
A feud with Mexico is not in Bush's interest, however, as he seeks a second term and political support from U.S. Hispanics. Fox could use a political boost, too.
"Fox is in trouble politically; President Bush clearly wants to get re-elected. There are now reasons to patch things up," said Michael Shifter, a senior analyst of U.S.-Latin American affairs at Inter-American Dialogue.
The two leaders will meet Monday before the start of the 34-nation Summit of the Americas in the northern Mexico city of Monterrey.
Over two days of talks, Bush is expected to encounter complaints from across Latin America about everything from new fingerprinting rules to American criticism of interaction with Cuba. Strains are occurring with Venezuela because of its close ties with Cuba's Fidel Castro and what the Bush administration sees as Venezuelan efforts to stoke anti-American sentiment elsewhere in the region.
"There are roles that Venezuela has played that have not been very helpful," National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said Friday. On another front, she said Bush would prod Argentina to take the difficult steps required by a debt refinancing plan with the International Monetary Fund to bolster the country's badly slumping economy.
The meeting with Fox isn't the only makeup session on Bush's schedule. He'll have breakfast Tuesday with Canada's new prime minister, Paul Martin, who has pledged to seek smoother ties with the United States despite strains over Iraq.
But the White House is most intent on demonstrating that Bush and Fox are pals again after two troubled years.
"I think we're well past that," Rice said. "Obviously we went through a difficult time about Iraq, but the relationship with Mexico is one of our most important, one of our closest. We are cooperating daily on border matters, on fighting of narcotics, on fighting to make the borders more secure."
Bush made Mexico his first foreign destination after becoming president, and Monday's trip to Monterrey marks his fourth visit to the country, the most to any country.
He has a long history of courting Mexico. Less than a month after he was elected governor of Texas in 1994, Bush went to Mexico City to attend the swearing-in of President Ernesto Zedillo.
When they stand together at a news conference Monday, the two leaders will be all smiles. Behind the public handshakes, Bush and his host will be trying to breathe new life into a cross-border friendship that has suffered.
Last year, Mexico wouldn't use its U.N. Security Council seat to support the eventual U.S. invasion of Iraq.
In August 2002, Fox canceled a visit to Bush's ranch to protest the Texas execution of police killer Javier Suarez Medina.
Fox also was irritated when Bush put aside immigration reforms after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Disappointment and frustration run high toward Fox among many Mexicans. His government has been trying to shake off a sluggish economy, rising unemployment and political gridlock.
A breakthrough in his relationship with his powerful northern neighbors could give him a boost, said Shifter, the Latin American analyst. But any hint of kowtowing toward Washington would only lower Mexicans' esteem for Fox, Shifter said.
Bush goes to Mexico with a proposal long sought by Fox. Bush asked Congress on Wednesday to create a temporary worker program that would allow illegal immigrants working in the United States, or foreigners who want to come, to work legally.
"As a Texan, I have known many immigrant families, mainly from Mexico, and I've seen what they add to our country," Bush said in a speech on his proposals. "They bring to America the values of faith in God, love of family, hard work, and self-reliance -- the values that made us a great nation to begin with."
Thursday, Fox praised the initiatives and took credit for cajoling Bush toward them, but he said he would continue pushing the White House.
"We're going for more," he said.
More than $232 billion worth of trade crossed the border last year, according to the U.S. government, and 252 million people -- about one-tenth of them illegally.
"There are hundreds of thousands of transactions every day between average people and businesses and tourists, and so the two countries are drawing ever closer," said George W. Grayson, a Latin America expert at the College of William and Mary, who is writing a book about the mayor of Mexico City.
"There may be whitecaps on the surface, some of the biggest over Iraq, but underneath there are churning currents that draw the two countries together," he said. |
