AN UNLIKELY MEXICAN FOREIGN MINISTER

Jorge Castaneda, Mexico's new foreign minister, finds himself upbraided by
Cuba and warmly received by the United States these days, a once
unthinkable position for a onetime Communist supporter and critic of
American foreign policy. But then it is equally improbable that Mr.
Castaneda would become one of the main architects of a constructive new
partnership between Mexico and the United States. Yet he has done just
that, and the two nations are the better for it.

The son of another Mexican foreign minister and a graduate of Princeton and
the Sorbonne who has taught at a number of American universities, Mr.
Castaneda is at home both in Mexico and the United States. In the early
1990's Mr. Castaneda, a political scientist, was one of the most outspoken
opponents of the North American Free Trade Agreement. His views by then had
become more mainstream and he had renounced his earlier admiration of Fidel
Castro, but he remained strongly wary of American intentions. In an
influential 1993 book, "Utopia Unarmed," Mr. Castaneda called the idea of a
hemispheric free- trade zone a "euphemism for the creation of a U.S. zone
of economic influence."

Eight years later, as foreign minister, Mr. Castaneda is energetically
working with Washington to create such a trading bloc. He is also working
to help ease tensions over the drug trade and illegal immigration.

Mr. Castaneda is not alone in his conversion. The growing economic
interdependence brought on by Nafta, the rise in Mexican-American political
power in this country and the end of one-party rule in Mexico have changed
attitudes on both sides of the Rio Grande.

To understand Mr. Castaneda's own evolution, it bears noting that he did
not oppose Nafta because he felt globalization could be averted. He wrote
extensively about the melding of cultures and interests before it became
fashionable in Mexico to dwell on the exodus of people across the Rio
Grande. He recognized that Mexico and the United States were becoming
intertwined, but worried on what terms.

Vicente Fox, Mexico's president, has shared this concern since he ran for
governor of the state of Guanajuato in 1995 and attacked the ruling
Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, for failing to insist on
development assistance as part of Nafta. Mr. Castaneda came to know Mr. Fox
while trying to forge an alliance between Mr. Fox and the leftist
opposition so a single candidate would run against the PRI.

The effort foundered, but Mr. Castaneda concluded that Mr. Fox was the only
viable opposition candidate, and one whose conservative thinking on issues
was far more nuanced than he expected. Mr. Castaneda has since served as an
influential political adviser to the president, most significantly in
helping him develop a long-term vision of a Nafta modeled after the
European Union, with its freedom of movement for labor and strong economic
development programs. Americans will be seeing a lot of Mr. Castaneda in
the months ahead. They should welcome him as a friend.