Mexico warms to Bush proposal

MONTERREY, Mexico -- President Bush won support for his immigration plans from President Vicente Fox of Mexico during their meeting yesterday in this mountainous town, and Bush issued a rare invitation to Fox to visit his Texas ranch in early March to further mend their frayed relationship.

"We hope it's a convenient date for you," Bush said after discussing immigration, trade, and anticorruption efforts during a one-on-one meeting with Fox at Quinta Real Hotel in Monterrey. "We'd love to have you."

Fox had canceled a previously scheduled trip to the ranch in 2002 to protest the execution of a Mexican citizen convicted of murder in Texas. He also has been frustrated by the Bush administration's unwillingness to give legal status to the millions of Mexicans who entered the United States illegally but who have lived and worked in the country for years.

But perhaps the sharpest blow to relations between the presidents came last year, when Fox refused to support the Bush administration's move toward war in Iraq.

Yesterday, however, at the outset of a special Summit of the Americas that will feature talks between US leaders and their counterparts in Latin America and Canada, Fox and Bush declared their relationship was on good footing.

"Our bilateral relationship is strong," Bush said. "This summit's agenda is full. The United States will continue to work with our friends in the neighborhood in a spirit of common purpose and mutual respect."

Fox had been lukewarm to the president's immigration proposal, which would give guest-worker cards to undocumented workers that would allow them to remain and work in the United States for at least three years. Most such guest workers eventually would be required to leave the United States, and -- unless current law is changed -- would face reentry bans of three to 10 years.

Fox and other critics of the plan had protested that, in not offering a clear path to citizenship for such workers -- many of whom are from Mexico -- the proposal does not go far enough.

Yesterday, the Mexican leader backed away from that view.

"What else can we wish?" Fox said in comments that were similar to those he made to foreign journalists last week. "What we want is the plan presented by President Bush. We hope that the plan has a happy ending to the political process that should be followed within the United States so that it can be approved in the Congress of the United States."

Bush sought to drum up more support for the plan even while explaining in blunt terms why he is against offering amnesty to the millions of immigrants who have entered the United States illegally.

"This plan is not amnesty, placing undocumented workers on the automatic path of citizenship," Bush said. "I oppose amnesty because it encourages the violation of our laws and perpetuates illegal immigration."

Bush avoided the caustic rhetoric that has sometimes been a part of the immigration debate. That rhetoric has drawn the anger of some Latinos, who view the drive to deport Mexican workers as tinged with racism.

"These workers are a benefit to my country," Bush said. "These are hard-working, decent, honorable people that are in our country to fill jobs that others won't take, on the one hand, and also to make a living, to get money, and to send money back to their families."

Immigration is a primary concern for Latino voters, a segment of the electorate Bush scored well with in 2000 and is hoping to impress as he runs for reelection this year. A Mexican journalist asked Bush whether politics was at the center of his proposal.

"Yeah, there's politics involved," Bush said, "and there will be politics involved in whether or not it passes Congress. But the reason I proposed the initiative is because it's the right thing for America to do."

A Brazilian diplomat, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "Bush is just politicking. He thinks trying to help migrants looks good to Latinos in the US." Bush also had praise yesterday for the free trade agreement his administration has reached with Chile and put in a plug for the stalled Free Trade Area of the Americas agreement he wants to sign with Latin American countries. But many in the region reject Bush's belief that free trade benefits their countries as much as it helps the United States.

The Brazilian diplomat said four sticking points remain in the drafting of a concluding declaration for the summit: US insistence that the Free Trade Area of the Americas agreement be signed by Jan. 1, 2005; a US proposal to withhold aid from governments it deems to be corrupt; US rejection of a "humanitarian fund" proposed by President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela; and US insistence that countries set a deadline by which they would cut in half the fees migrants have to pay to send money back home.

The diplomat added: "The Brazilian government supports the FTAA but opposes US efforts to convert the agreement into a mechanism to fixing all the problems with the World Trade Organization, such as implementing tougher laws to protect property rights."

After meeting with the presidents of Chile and Brazil last night, Bush and his wife, Laura, attended a dinner hosted by Fox and his wife. Today, Bush is scheduled to meet with leaders from Bolivia, Argentina, and Canada.