Bush to meet with new Mexican president

By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 25 minutes ago

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has a tough message for President Bush: The United States must do more — "much more" — to solve thorny issues of drug-trafficking and immigration. At the last stop on his Latin American tour, Bush must convince Calderon on Tuesday that he's committed to soothing strained U.S.-Mexico relations, which only got worse when Bush signed a law calling for construction of more than 700 miles of new fencing along the long border the two countries share.

Many Latin Americans see the fence as evidence that America is ripping up its welcome mat.

The welcome mat here for Bush's talks with Mexico's newly elected leader is muddied with anti-American sentiment, particularly over the war in Iraq.

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March 13, 2007

In Mexico, Bush Seeks to Bolster Uneasy Alliance

NY Times

MÉRIDA, Mexico, March 12 — Just a few days before President Bush was scheduled to land here on Monday for bilateral talks, the Mexican Foreign Ministry sent an angry diplomatic note to the United States.

The note complained that United States Border Patrol agents had crossed the border and ventured a couple of dozen feet into Mexico to put out a rapidly spreading brush fire. “Even in emergency situations, the Mexican authorities must be notified immediately, without exception,” the note said.

The incident illustrates just how touchy relations have become between the United States and Mexico during Mr. Bush’s presidency and hints at the difficulty the American president faces as he tries on this state visit to revive what many Mexicans see as a moribund partnership.

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Napolitano to Bush, Calderón: resolve immigration

By Howard Fischer

CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES

PHOENIX — Gov. Janet Napolitano is asking President Bush and his Mexican counterpart to agree today to changes in their own countries to deal with the large number of Mexicans coming to the United States to work.

In a letter Monday to both Bush and Felipe Calderón, the governor said she believes from her separate meetings with each of them that they want to improve relations. But she said that will require some affirmative steps on their parts.

Napolitano wants Bush to pledge to implement an immigration system "that is economically realistic, flexible and innovative."

But she also said Mexico — and Calderón — have to play a role, too: She wants the Mexican president to promise to modernize the economy of the country "and end the practice of using the United States labor market as a safety valve."