Posted on 08/31/2002 11:59:13 AM PDT by Destro
Outside view: Bush-Fox honeymoon over
By RoseLee Bovell, Alonzo Sanchez and Sarah Stokes
From the International Desk
Published 8/31/2002 1:47 PM
WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- After President George W. Bush took office, the first foreign leader he met was President Vicente Fox of Mexico. But now Bush's drams of a new golden age of partnership and surging prosperity on both sides of the Rio Grande are foundering amid intractable problems and growing tensions. His honeymoon with Fox is long over.
Fox still publicly claims he is producing prodigies of reform. In an Aug. 21 interview, the Mexican president stated, "In two years I can say loudly that the transition (to democracy) is close to being over and it has been done with full stability, economic stability, political stability and social stability."
However, that statement was a distortion of reality and a self-glorification of Fox's modest achievements. Even more, it did not establish the basis for a claim to any dramatic improvement of the quality of Mexico's basic democratic institutions.
It could, however, be argued that Mexico's economic and political stability is firmer and more authentic than the Bush-Fox relationship. For that relationship is now dead in the water, as are U.S.-Mexican ties. Indeed, on economic affairs and immigration, the two areas of greatest concern in U.S.-Mexican relations, any progress now taking place is a product of inertia rather than anything produced by the alleged "special relationship" between Bush and Fox.
These have not been inspiring times for a very dispirited Fox. His poll ratings are sagging, his country's economy is going through hard times and he has failed to fulfill his campaign pledge of creating a million jobs. Instead, during his presidency, Mexico has so far lost 500,000 jobs due in part to massive reductions in the maquiladora, or sweatshop, workforce. Because of the border clamp down by the Untied States since the Sept. 11 terror attacks last year, Fox has even lost the relatively easy entrance into the United States for hundreds of thousands of Mexicans that previously served as an escape valve for poverty and social pressures.
Worst of all, a fundamental rift may be developing between the Untied States and Mexico that could lead to growing Mexican intransigence in upcoming hemispheric free trade negotiations. Fox's Mexico, far from strengthening its ties with the United States as Bush anticipated on his inauguration, now may emerge as a leader of an anticipated denunciation by Latin American nations of U.S. hemispheric unilateralism.
The recent execution of Javier Suárez Medina, a Mexican citizen convicted in Texas of being a police killer, has deepened the rift between the United States and Mexico. Fox cancelled his planned August visit to Bush's ranch in Texas in protest at Suárez's execution on the grounds that Texas state officials had violated the terms of an existing international consular agreement to which both countries were signatories.
This agreement explicitly gave defendants -- if they were foreign nationals -- the right to be informed that they could obtain legal aid from the Mexican consulate after it had been notified that one of its nationals was being tried on capital charge. Suárez had never been apprised of such rights. Demonstrating his continued frustration over the issue, Fox also refused to meet with Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who was in Mexico City over the Aug. 25 weekend.
Texas officials responded to Fox's contentions by arguing that Suárez's place of birth was uncertain. But Mexican officials adamantly claimed that Suárez was a Mexican national, and thus fell under the terms of the agreement. Even Perry seemed to acknowledge Suárez's Mexican nationality when he became defensive over the large number of Mexicans on death row in his state, saying, "One way to solve that problem is, don't come to Texas and kill a police officer."
White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan told the Washington Post that the cancellation of Fox's visit to Texas would in no way hurt relations between the two countries. But the flap over Suárez is only symbolic of the real resentment Fox feels towards the United States and the Bush administration. He is aware that Bush has no border policy today. Instead, there are two policies in total conflict with each other.
At the border there is a tenacious Maginot Line mentality applying the old French World War I slogan, "Ils ne passarent pas." -- "They shall not pass." Here is where the Bush administration is at war with would-be Mexican immigrants.
But 10 miles into the United States, there is scant interdiction. Those who successfully elude capture at the border can expect to permanently reside in the United States because the Immigration and Naturalization Service makes only token gestures to apprehend those migrating illegally in the country. This is because the agency is pressured not to enforce immigration statutes by local and state officials who insist that their cheap labor is needed in the chicken-processing plants and in the fields. Here is where the hypocrisy kicks in. Make it past the border and the illegal immigrant, will figuratively have a limousine take him to a job vacancy that is craving for him to fill it.
Meanwhile, Bush's lack of action over Suárez speaks louder than his insistence that a putative bond of cordiality still links him to Fox. It reflects the low priority that the administration is currently giving to maintaining cordial relations with Mexico City.
At home, Fox faces a rising chorus of criticism that he has not been tough enough towards Bush over the Suarez case, and many other things as well. A recent poll showed Fox's approval rating has dropped 30 percent since he took office. According to a New York Times editorial, "Washington's dismissal of Mr. Fox has damaged the standing of the most pro-American Mexican president ever and left many Mexicans wondering whether their country is getting enough in return for their president's support of Washington."
The democratization Fox promised has been slow to materialize. "About 40 percent of Mexico's population hasn't yet received any tangible benefits from open markets and democracy, and that's a powder keg," said James Jones, a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico in an interview with The Dallas Morning News. "If Mexico's sense of hope and opportunity is not kept alive and realized, then I think we have a problem on our hands, though I don't think Mexico is there yet." In fact, Mexico is very close to being "there" as its economy becomes increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small wealthy elite, and those living under the poverty line increase in number.
The Mexican president is fighting an uphill battle as he leads a minority government, with his own business-oriented party frequently at odds with him. In an interview, Fox stated, "We have had a two-fold challenge. One has been to correct all the mistakes committed in the past by past governments. ... And we have to dedicate time to organize ourselves and institutions to be able to meet the challenges out on the street."
But Mexico's 18-month recession has not helped Fox's popularity. As many as 300,000 or 400,000 jobs have been lost along the border alone since his presidency began, and even more assembly plants are expected to move to Asian locations soon, where they can find a significantly cheaper work force. Yet the Bush administration is not taking any significant action to address its neighbor's plight.
Along the border, maquiladoras are closing due to limited U.S. demand and rising wages available in Mexico's interior. Hourly wages in Mexican border cities rose in the 1990s from $1.50 to $2.00 per hour, which helps explain why maquiladora owners are now moving their factories to China and elsewhere in the Third World, where wages as low as $0.25 an hour can be found. In response, Fox is urging maquiladora owners to achieve comparable economies by moving their businesses to Mexico's southern region where poverty is endemic.
Also, local Mexican farmers cannot even compete with cheap farm imports from U.S. agro-industry, which are now being subsidized by a $180 billion fund in the United States spread over 10 years. This ongoing agricultural crisis afflicting Mexican farmers is forcing many of them to attempt to migrate to the United States merely to subsist, while American food processing companies seek cheap labor in order to maintain their intensely competitive prices.
Fox seems to be sparring with Bush much more frequently in recent months. These disagreements are occurring not only over bilateral relations but also when it comes to international issues.
Unlike Bush, Fox is attending the U.N. World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg this weekend and next week, where he will strongly urge the United States to sign the Kyoto treaty on global warming. Fox has also accepted the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. In May, the leaders of Latin America and Europe implicitly rebuked Washington's refusal to sign the Kyoto treaty by meeting at a historic summit and emphasizing their support of multilateral world solutions. Fox commented, "Without doubt, Latin America needs this proximity to Europe."
Fox has also said that he would not support Bush's war against Iraq. "We can't get involved in any way in any war. We have a great commitment to the fight against terrorism, but not participating directly in wars," he said.
Bush did respond, somewhat optimistically to the accusations that his relationship with Fox has deteriorated. "I am confident that our friendship is strong, that we'll be able to work together to resolve common problems and we'll have future discussions," he said. But it seems likely that the relationship will continue to deteriorate as long as the White House is content to reach out to it with upbeat rhetoric and tender sentiment, rather than concrete and affirmative policies.
Conflicts over immigration are looming larger by the day. Due to increased security measures along heavily populated areas of the border, especially around San Diego and El Paso, undocumented Mexicans have been forced to carry out their illicit border crossings in far more remote areas. On Aug. 18-19, four undocumented immigrants trying to enter the country illegally died on an isolated stretch of the Arizona desert due to the intense heat. More illegal immigrants died last month trying to cross the border than during any other month. Increased monitoring by INS Border Patrol agents, under the Operation Gatekeeper program, has forced thousands of migrants to attempt their crossings in far less hospitable areas. Border Patrol spokesman Mario Villarreal stated that, in reaction to the increased manpower and resources along the southwest border, major smuggling organizations have shifted their operations to desolate areas in the southwest. Villarreal claims that as a result of the increased danger and the INS's enhanced interdiction capacity, the price for smuggling migrants has risen 20-fold. "Back in the mid- to late-'80s, it cost $40 - $100 per person. The current smuggling charge can be anywhere from $1000-$2000 per person."
It has been argued that Fox has continued an amiable relationship on the surface with Bush for solely pragmatic political reasons. Steve Camarota, research director for Center for Immigration Studies, gave his own spin on Fox's cancelled Texas trip. "Fox is looking to make a deal. He will reschedule to make himself look good back home. ... Fox came in to office on a platform of pressing for immigration reform in the U.S. Congress, but reform is not possible right now, because there is not a majority that support it there."
However, Delal Baer, chair of the Mexico Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, claimed that in canceling his trip, Fox "was speaking more to his domestic constituency, needing to beat his chest a bit, than exhibiting a true indication that the relationship is in trouble. ... No Mexican president can afford to appear weak in front of the United States."
The Bush-Fox relationship is certainly not dead. Fox has rescheduled his visit to see Bush for the first quarter of next year. But the problems between them are real, unresolved and unaddressed. And they are growing. The honeymoon is over.
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(RoseLee Bovell, Alonzo Sanchez and Sarah Stokes are research associates of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, a Washington-based independent, non-profit, research and information organization.)
Copyright © 2002 United Press International
He looked stupid. His country has sky-rocketing crime, the government is certainly involved in many executions just not publically. He has done nothing to find the killers of young Mexican women just outside our border. Mexico can't just be a parasite on the US to fix it's many problems, it has to start with some serious internal changes.
This article fails to mention the US border agents that have been shot at or killed by invading Mexicans.
More illegal immigrants died last month trying to cross the border than during any other month.
I'm not sure what to make of this. Either we're making some real progress, or the overall number of illegals is increasing, therby increasing the number of those who die on the way.
That's what it is. I think just as many are coming over on the Mexican bus lines as ever ---the Golden State and Americanos buses are always filled to capacity. Illegal drugs are just as plentiful and are another indication. Conditions in Mexico are worsening too which means we'll be getting even more.
In the divorce the US will have to pay child support on all the illegitimate children.
My God, getting enough in return? How about the fact that millions of their border jumpers have been supported by stupid Americans for years now. If "their president" supported Washington in any way, I have not heard of it. In fact, I didn't hear a peep from Fox on 9/11 or afterwards, except to encourage more illegal immigration. What a bunch of jackasses.
These chicken processing plants (let's hear it for Bubba's good buddy Tyson) used to provide living wage blue-collar jobs for honest hard working American citizens in little towns throughout the South and Midwest, just as the fish processors and canneries did all around Alaska.
These days you've got Illegals working in those jobs at the '70's wage level, the blue-coller American worker is out of a job, depressed and hooked on meth and welfare, their families have disintegrated, and their children are being raised by Jerry Springer and MTV.
THIS is the legacy of FREE TRADE.
Straight news must have gotten boring over at UPI. My question is, who has a link to this new UPI op-ed site? I didn't think there was a UPI opinion page, but by the content of this piece it is clear I was wrong.
It's so sad to watch it become reality.
Haven't heard from you in a while ... good to see you back. You were a warrior early on.
Fox instead choose to abandon the "conservative" platform he was elected on and veer to the far-left so he could demand the U.S. impliment a socialist agenda. He wanted a one-sided deal that would simply help Mexico in the short run by leeching off the U.S.
Fox had the opporunity to appointed a dyed-in-the-wool consevative foreign minister who would lobby for programs to help his LEGAL immigrats assimulate in America, while working hard to return ILLEGAL immigrats to Mexico where their workforce was desperately needed. Instead, Fox appointed an unabashed communist who tried to ram his open-border agenda down our throat.
Fox has the opporuntity to regain the trust of the United States (after years the U.S. bailing Mexico out) by standing with us in resolutions to back Israel, fight the war on terrorism, and end support for communist nations. He choose pick ambassadors and delegates who would continue to back socialism and vote against pro-Western, American resolutions.
Fox had the opporunity to use his strong Christian "convictions" in his party to stop the opporession of the Catholic church in Mexico-- so they could provide for pro-family programs instead of the government allowing for a corrupt welfare state. He could have used his values to help Bush pass socially consevative items for Catholic hispanic Americans. Instead he choose to defy his own religion's marriage laws and traditions, and to care more about protesting the execution of convicted criminals in the U.S. than innocent babies (evidentially, Mr. Fox doesn't mind when Mexican nations show up in the U.S. for taxpayer funded abortions).
On every issue, Fox has abandoned conservatives, and so now conservatives-- included those in his OWN party-- are abandoning him in droves.
You reap what you sow, so nice to see you go.
NAFTA is a disaster.
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