cannabisnews.com: Fox Called Eager to Tackle Border Issues 





Fox Called Eager to Tackle Border Issues 
Posted by FoM on January 12, 2001 at 14:56:56 PT
By Juliet V. Casey, Journal Staff Writer
Source: Albuquerque Journal 
Mexican President Vicente Fox is ready to tackle a slew of border issues besides immigration and labor, Sen. Pete Domenici said Thursday. "(Fox) is a doer, and he's ready to get on with the business of Mexico and certainly does not want delays," he said.  Domenici, R-N.M., met Fox in Mexico City this week with a bipartisan Senate delegation to discuss the drug war, trade and development along the border and immigration and labor.
 The group of senators, led by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Phil Gramm, R-Texas, focused on a work-permit proposal that would give up to 8 million undocumented Mexicans the legal right to work in the United States.  Domenici said he will urge President-elect George W. Bush to meet with Fox "sooner rather than later" on border issues.  Mexican officials in Albuquerque said Bush's experience as the former governor of Texas — a border state like New Mexico — is a positive element for relations between the two countries.  Fox wants the United States to kill a law requiring the president to issue an annual drug certification ruling for Mexico and other drug-producing countries. Decertified countries face losing military and economic aid.  Opponents of the certification say the process is adversarial and harmful to foreign relations.  "I suggested ... that the law should be abolished and that it was a relic that we don't need," Domenici said from his Albuquerque office. "(Fox) obviously was full of enthusiasm with that statement and in total accord."  Gov. Gary Johnson's push to decriminalize drugs hasn't entered discussions with Mexico, Domenici said.  Jaime Paz y Puente, the consul of Mexico in Albuquerque, said Johnson likely won't have much of an impact.  "I believe that the question of decriminalization is an internal New Mexico issue," he said.  Domenici said Fox and border czar Ernesto Ruffo support a proposed Santa Teresa transportation center that is expected to benefit the region, including a 40,000-acre planned development immediately across the border.  Mexico is building a 17-mile bypass that skirts Ciudad Juarez and links northbound traffic to the San Jeronimo Highway, which leads to the Santa Teresa port.  Domenici said development along the border places labor and immigration at the forefront of U.S.-Mexico relations. The senators and Fox want a guest-worker program, managed by both countries, that would give Mexicans in the United States the same rights as their American counterparts.  "Workers will be able to come and work, go back to Mexico to continue their lives with their families and continue to benefit Mexican society," Paz y Puente said.Source: Albuquerque Journal (NM)Author: Juliet V. Casey, Journal Staff WriterPublished: Friday, January 12, 2001 Copyright: 2001 Albuquerque JournalAddress: P.O. Drawer J, Albuquerque, N.M. 87103Contact: opinion abqjournal.comWebsite: http://www.abqjournal.com/ Related Articles:Activist Suggests Johnson for Drug Czar http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8273.shtmlFox Seeks New Cooperative Era For North America http://cannabisnews.com/news/6/thread6711.shtml
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