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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | November 2006 
Mexican President-Elect Warns Against High Expectations from U.S. Visit
 Associated Press
| | Mexico's president-elect Felipe Calderon. (Andrew Winning/Reuters) |
President-elect Felipe Calderon warned Mexicans to temper their expectations for his first visit with U.S. President George W. Bush later this week, saying his goal was merely "to establish a first contact" before he takes office Dec. 1.
Calderon says he wants to "clearly present my goals and concerns regarding the bilateral relationship and also to know firsthand the opinions, points of view and objectives of my counterparts, specifically the president of the United States."
He did not say whether he would reiterate Mexico's objection to Bush's signing of a law authorizing a major extension of a fence on the U.S. side of the border to stem illegal migration from Mexico. But the president-elect and his transition team have said the visit would be complicated by Bush's approval of 1,100 kilometers (690 miles) of additional fencing along the border.
Calderon, who travels to the United States on Wednesday, is meeting with Bush on Thursday at the White House. He also is scheduled to meet with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Calderon remarked that the U.S.-Mexico relationship is the "most delicate, most complex and most important" in terms of Mexico's foreign policy.
Mexico has argued that the fence will not stop migrants from crossing, but will only make it more dangerous for them.
President Vicente Fox, who compares the fence to the Berlin Wall, made passage of an integral immigration law that would provide legal means of employment for Mexican migrants a centerpiece of his administration.
Bush also made such a law one of his top priorities until the Sept. 11 attacks turned his attention more toward securing the border. Bush continued to support a temporary guest-worker program for Mexican migrants, but did not have congressional backing for the measure.
He signed the border fence-extension bill less than two weeks before the U.S. midterm elections, which take place Tuesday.
Over the weekend, Fox called that action a "clumsy" election-minded measure, at a summit of Portugal, Spain and Latin American nations that together blasted U.S. plans for new border walls. |
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