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 Editorials | Issues | March 2007 
Bush to Court Mexico's Calderón
 Chris Hawley - Arizona Republic
He wants a bigger role in the world. He's been putting a new emphasis on the military. And he's got oil - lots of it.
Could the new, conservative Mexican president be the antidote to Venezuela's American antagonist, President Hugo Chavez? President Bush is hoping so.
As Mexican President Felipe Calderón and Bush meet in the Yucatan Peninsula this week, analysts expect to hear much praise and encouragement from the U.S. president, who is looking for conservative allies to counter the influence of Chavez and other leftist leaders.
Calderón, who took office Dec. 1, is the Bush administration's kind of guy: a pro-business former energy minister with a degree from Harvard. His country, despite its various woes, has the 15th-biggest economy in the world and a strengthening democracy. And it's the sixth-largest producer of petroleum, providing a counterbalance to oil-rich Venezuela.
The two-day Bush-Calderón meeting begins Tuesday in the tropical city of Merida. Although border security and immigration are on the agenda, analysts do not expect any big agreements and say Bush is mainly interested in building a relationship with the new Mexican president.
The United States has seen its influence fade in Latin America despite doubling its foreign aid to the region from $860 million in 2000 to $1.6 billion last year.
Trying to win friends, Bush said he would send military doctors and the hospital ship USS Comfort to perform free surgeries in Latin America. He also pledged $460 million for educational and home-mortgage programs.
Ensuring prosperity is especially important in Mexico, which shares a 1,950-mile border with the United States and is its second-biggest trade partner after Canada.
The United States and Mexico did more than $322 billion in commerce in 2006. Nearly 9.2 million Mexican-born people live in the United States. And Mexico is the United States' second-biggest foreign supplier of oil.
But Mexico has traditionally stayed out of world affairs. Calderón has signaled he plans to change that.
The meeting will likely include an update on Bush's efforts to overhaul the U.S. immigration system, the White House says. Mexicans are hoping the new, Democrat-controlled U.S. Congress will finally act on those proposals. |
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