HELMS GOES TO MEXICO AND FINDS AMIGOS

Mexico's sharpest critic, Sen. Jesse Helms, goes south of the border in a
first for himself and the nation. In Mexico, Jesse Helms might have been
regarded as the best example of the ugly American. That is, until this week.

The Republican senator from North Carolina has been Mexico's severest
critic, a staunch opponent of NAFTA and the fiercest advocate of the
argument that the nation's southern neighbor ought to be "decertified"
because of its corruption and uncooperativeness in the fight against
illegal drugs.

Helms' critical assessment of Mexico's government and its policies hardly
comes from a close, in-the-field study. He rarely travels outside the
United States. The 79-year-old senator is never among the raft of members
of Congress who find it somehow necessary to travel the globe to personally
inspect the workings of foreign aid and meet foreign dignitaries. He calls
such trips a waste of money. Yet he has been sure enough of his judgment
that he called the continuing certification of Mexico a "fraud" and his
personal opposition to a American ambassador to Mexico disrupted
cross-border relations for months, to the exasperation of both sides. Not
that the consternation bothered Helms.

And the feeling was mutual: a Mexico City newspaper described Helms as "a
known historic enemy of Mexico."

Yet this week, there was Helms in Mexico City, shaking hands and rubbing
elbows with Mexican dignitaries of all descriptions, starting with
President Vicente Fox. No pictures yet of Helms donning a sombrero, but
such is the historic turn of events that that wouldn't be surprising. Helms
was in the Mexican capital for the first joint meeting of a Senate
committee held outside the United States.

Helms' trip to Mexico - he was accompanied by fellow senators Joseph Biden
of Delaware, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska,
Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island and John Ensign of Nevada - was his own
idea. His new friendlier stance toward Mexico was brought about by the
victory of Fox, the moderate conservative who routed the party that had
ruled Mexico for 71 years, the PRI.

Helms seems amenable to more pragmatic, if not warmer, talks on mutual
problems with Mexico: immigration and narcotics trafficking. That Helms can
focus more on pragmatic matters and less on unreasonable obstinacy is due
to a new attitude brought in with Fox's administration. Fox and his cabinet
have been eager to show that they are less about using the United States as
the bogeyman for all their troubles and more about getting down to finding
answers to sticky problems.

There are still many issues dividing Mexico and the U.S. Yet if Jesse Helms
can be "simpatico" to Mexicans, then on U.S.-Mexico relations many things
are possible.