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 News from Around the Americas | November 2006 
Unease Over U.S. Policies Frames Calderón´s Visit
 El Universal
| | 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. (Andrew Winning/Reuters) |
U.S. President George W. Bush will receive President-elect Felipe Calderón on Thursday at a time of growing Mexican unease over the U.S. plan to construct a 700-mile (1,125 kilometer) fence on the U.S. side of the border to stem the flow of illegal migrants.
After a breakfast meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Calderón plans a White House conversation with Bush. It has become a custom for Mexican leaders newly elected to make a pre-inaugural visit to Washington. He will be sworn in on Dec. 1.
Bush signed the law authorizing the fence on Oct. 26. He and his Republican allies in the U.S. Congress were hoping the legislation would be seen as sign of resolve in dealing with the migration issue ahead of Tuesday´s congressional elections.
Bush himself favored a less muscular approach to the problem but the Congress, particularly the House of Representatives, was not receptive.
The day after the signing ceremony, Calderón called the law "deplorable" and drew a comparison between the border fence proposal and the Berlin Wall.
The Bush administration rejects any such comparison, pointing out that the 1961 wall was aimed at keeping people in and the U.S. border wall at keeping people out.
Bush and Rice were the only executive branch officials Calderón planned to see. Also on his agenda were meetings with a Hispanic group, officials from the Organization of American States (OAS) and from international financial institutions.
PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION
Administration officials will be paying close heed to Calderón´s public remarks during his visit to see how tough a stance he will take on the fence plan. Initially, he had said he was not going to make migration from Mexico the centerpiece of his government´s policy toward the United States.
Outgoing President Vicente Fox has made clear his opposition to the fence. His view appears to be widely shared by many governments throughout the hemisphere.
The day before Bush signed the fence legislation, 28 of the 34 members of the OAS signed a statement written by Mexico expressing "deep concern" about the fence proposal and decrying the "unilateral" nature of the U.S. action.
Calderón has described the U.S.-Mexico relationship as the "most delicate, most complex and most important" in terms of Mexico´s foreign policy.
He defeated rival candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador by a tiny margin in the July 2 election, and there was unstated relief in Washington when the president-elect survived a challenge by López Obrador that featured mass street protests. |
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