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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | November 2006 
Calderon Assails Border Fence Plan
 George Gedda - Associated Press
| | Mexico's President-elect Felipe Calderon addresses a luncheon of U.S.-Hispanic groups in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2006. (AP/Kevin Wolf) |
Preparing for a meeting with President Bush, Mexican President-elect Felipe Calderon made clear Wednesday his unhappiness with U.S. border security measures, saying the two countries need "bridges for progress and not walls that isolate and divide."
U.S. steps to stem the flow of migrants across the border were expected to dominate Bush's discussions with Calderon, who takes office Dec. 1.
Mexico has been highly critical of the U.S. plan to build a 700-mile fence along the border. Bush signed the law authorizing the fence on Oct. 26.
Calderon noted that barbed wire is also part of the U.S. border control apparatus.
The border region "should not be a zone of barbed wire but a zone of opportunities," Calderon said, according to a translation of his remarks.
He spoke to a gathering of some 200 Hispanic leaders here. He meets with Bush on Thursday after a breakfast meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Also scheduled to attend the breakfast were Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.
Calderon acknowledged Wednesday that illegal border-crossings into the United States are an unpleasant issue for both countries.
"Migration is not a desirable issue for anybody," he said. "It awakens enormous sensibilities in the United States and was at the center of the debate in the (Tuesday) elections."
And, he said, "it takes away the most daring part of our population and divides our families."
In a statement issued Wednesday from Mexico City, U.S. ambassador Antonio Garza said Bush and Calderon planned to discuss border problems caused by criminals and narco-traffickers.
Other possible topics, Garza said, include further reductions in limits to free trade and finding ways to ensure "how both people and goods can cross our border in a legal, orderly, and more efficient way."
Associated Press writer Nestor Ikeda contributed to this report. |
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