MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Mexico, US, Canada pledge closer ties

Mexican President Vicente Fox held his swan-song summit with the leaders of the United States and Canada in Cancun Friday, and expressed optimism that one of the main objectives he set for himself upon taking office more than five years ago - a better deal for undocumented Mexicans in the U.S. - is at hand.

Eight months before his term expires, U.S. President George W. Bush and new Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper - like the Mexican president also conservatives - hailed Fox's performance during his six years in power.

The three men were meeting in this eastern resort city to review the progress of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP), which Bush, Fox and then-Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin established in a March 2005 meeting at the U.S. leader's Texas ranch.

The partnership was framed as a step to build on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which has bound the three economies together since 1994 and was hailed during the summit as the world's most dynamic and successful trade agreement. Bush and Harper said at a joint press conference at the conclusion of the tri-lateral summit that Fox has demonstrated strong leadership at the national and regional level, strengthened Mexican democracy and left behind an economy in a state of expansion and stability.

Mexico's economy has grown steadily during Fox's reign, although that growth has fallen well short of the president's campaign pledge to deliver annual economic growth of 7 percent and create 1 million new jobs a year. Fox's plans have been hindered by the opposition-controlled Congress' refusal to pass the structural reforms that most economists say are essential for Mexico's development.

The next SPP summit is scheduled to take place in Canada in 2007, when Fox will have left office to make way for the winner of the July 2 presidential election. That race is currently led by former Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, of the left-leaning PRD party.

Fox, a staunch supporter of free trade and critic of "populist models," said Friday that his country's trade alliance with Canada and the United States has been "successful and productive." He added that, with regard to border security and socioeconomic development, he will leave behind a legacy of "compromises and responsibilities." Fox referred to these "responsibilities" when he reiterated his expectation that Washington pass an immigration reform bill that allows a flow of migrants that is "legal, orderly and respectful of human rights." Such a reform would benefit millions of Mexicans who currently live in the United States and who in 2005 sent some $20 billion in remittances to Mexico.

Bush, for his part, said he was determined to push a reform bill through Congress, while adding that security throughout North America was a basic requirement for business, investment and development, which in turn leads to social justice. Fox's administration this year embarked on a campaign in support of "comprehensive and humane" immigration reform, which included joining forces with Central America, Colombia and the Dominican Republic and engaging in an extensive lobbying effort in Washington.

Last year, he referred to as "shameful" the U.S. House of Representatives' approval of a bill in December that envisions building 700 miles of fences along the border with Mexico, makes illegal immigration a crime - it is currently a civil offence - and calls for prosecuting U.S. citizens who aid undocumented migrants. Fox, however, has welcomed a Senate bill currently being debated that includes a provision for a guest-worker program - though it differs from Bush's own proposal for such an initiative - and holds out the prospect of legalization for millions of undocumented immigrants.

Fox said his government would work to improve security and prevent people-trafficking along his nation's border with the United States, Belize and Guatemala. The day before, he announced that Mexico would begin extraditing drug traffickers in "a matter of weeks" and that there would be an all-out war on crime, even if criminal gangs respond with even greater violence.

The Mexican leader also called on the United States and Canada to back an energy plan to spur development in Central American countries and help reduce the emigration of thousands of Latin Americans who enter Mexico each year with the goal of continuing on to the United States.

That energy plan, in which Colombia and the Dominican Republic are also participating, calls for the construction of refineries, gas pipelines and other infrastructure and has the aim of lessening an economic crisis in Central American countries stemming from high international fuel prices.