El Brujo
20th November 2003, 01:57
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reute...g=AMERICAS#body (http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters11-17-192940.asp?reg=AMERICAS#body)
On Monday, U.N. envoy Adolfo Aguilar was relieved of his post, effective Jan. 1, for saying the United States had never been interested in an equal relationship with Mexico, treating its southern neighbor like its ''backyard.''
U.S.-Mexican relations have soured in recent years over U.S. hesitation to approve immigration reform and Mexico's withdrawal from a pan-American defense treaty. They reached a new low this year over Mexican opposition to the U.S. war on Iraq.
The two trade partners have sought to mend fences in recent weeks, resuming stalled talks on a deal to legalize the millions of undocumented Mexicans living in the United States.
''They are in a very tentative dance right now with the U.S.,'' said Rodolfo de la Garza, a Mexico expert at Colombia University in New York.
The firing ''says Fox is trying to get back to a better relationship and he can't afford to have one of his major ministers undercutting that.''
Michael Shifter, senior analyst at the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue think tank, said, ''His (Aguilar's) comment comes at a time when both governments are trying to see if they can patch things up and there was a sense this could risk some backsliding.''
Mexico sends about 90 percent of its exports to the United States, and the two nations and Canada are partners in the North American Free Trade Agreement.
A left-leaning academic and formerly Mexico's national security chief, Aguilar was named to the post in January 2002, as Mexico took up a two-year nonpermanent seat on the 15-seat U.N. Security Council.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell slammed his comments, made to Mexican university students, as ''outrageous.'' Fox said they were wrong and did not correspond to reality.
STEADY DECLINE
U.S.-Mexican relations are a far cry from the heady days early in Fox's administration when President George W. Bush visited the Mexican leader at his ranch and much was made of the two men's personal friendship.
Under Fox's 3-year-old government, the two countries have reached unprecedented levels of cooperation on the war against drug trafficking and border security.
Ties were strained after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks pushed the war on terror to the forefront of U.S. foreign policy, derailing negotiations with Mexico on an immigration deal.
Last year, days before the Sept. 11 anniversary, Fox left his powerful ally smarting by withdrawing from the 1947 Rio Treaty binding Western Hemisphere nations to protect the Americas from outside attack.
The United States had counted on Mexican backing in the Security Council for its attack on Iraq but did not get it.
U.S. lawmakers are debating legislation to grant guest worker visas to Mexican immigrants seeking work in the United States and give legal status to up to 10 million already living there.
But at home, where attitudes have traditionally been ambivalent toward the United States, opposition senators and newspaper commentators attacked Aguilar's dismissal, arguing he was voicing the feelings of many Mexicans.
''Another mistake that leaves Vicente Fox as a president subjected to the caprices of the U.S. government,'' wrote Ricardo Aleman in El Universal daily.
On Monday, U.N. envoy Adolfo Aguilar was relieved of his post, effective Jan. 1, for saying the United States had never been interested in an equal relationship with Mexico, treating its southern neighbor like its ''backyard.''
U.S.-Mexican relations have soured in recent years over U.S. hesitation to approve immigration reform and Mexico's withdrawal from a pan-American defense treaty. They reached a new low this year over Mexican opposition to the U.S. war on Iraq.
The two trade partners have sought to mend fences in recent weeks, resuming stalled talks on a deal to legalize the millions of undocumented Mexicans living in the United States.
''They are in a very tentative dance right now with the U.S.,'' said Rodolfo de la Garza, a Mexico expert at Colombia University in New York.
The firing ''says Fox is trying to get back to a better relationship and he can't afford to have one of his major ministers undercutting that.''
Michael Shifter, senior analyst at the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue think tank, said, ''His (Aguilar's) comment comes at a time when both governments are trying to see if they can patch things up and there was a sense this could risk some backsliding.''
Mexico sends about 90 percent of its exports to the United States, and the two nations and Canada are partners in the North American Free Trade Agreement.
A left-leaning academic and formerly Mexico's national security chief, Aguilar was named to the post in January 2002, as Mexico took up a two-year nonpermanent seat on the 15-seat U.N. Security Council.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell slammed his comments, made to Mexican university students, as ''outrageous.'' Fox said they were wrong and did not correspond to reality.
STEADY DECLINE
U.S.-Mexican relations are a far cry from the heady days early in Fox's administration when President George W. Bush visited the Mexican leader at his ranch and much was made of the two men's personal friendship.
Under Fox's 3-year-old government, the two countries have reached unprecedented levels of cooperation on the war against drug trafficking and border security.
Ties were strained after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks pushed the war on terror to the forefront of U.S. foreign policy, derailing negotiations with Mexico on an immigration deal.
Last year, days before the Sept. 11 anniversary, Fox left his powerful ally smarting by withdrawing from the 1947 Rio Treaty binding Western Hemisphere nations to protect the Americas from outside attack.
The United States had counted on Mexican backing in the Security Council for its attack on Iraq but did not get it.
U.S. lawmakers are debating legislation to grant guest worker visas to Mexican immigrants seeking work in the United States and give legal status to up to 10 million already living there.
But at home, where attitudes have traditionally been ambivalent toward the United States, opposition senators and newspaper commentators attacked Aguilar's dismissal, arguing he was voicing the feelings of many Mexicans.
''Another mistake that leaves Vicente Fox as a president subjected to the caprices of the U.S. government,'' wrote Ricardo Aleman in El Universal daily.