MEXICO'S FOX HAILS BUSH VISIT, PRESS SKEPTICAL

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's leader Vicente Fox hailed on Saturday what
he described as important advances on the thorny issues of drug trafficking
and illegal immigration during a one-day visit by U.S. President George W.
Bush (news - web sites).

But local newspapers were less impressed, saying the visit on Friday was
upstaged by joint U.S.-British air attacks launched on targets near Baghdad
while Fox hosted Bush at his central Mexico ranch.

In his weekly radio address, Fox praised Bush for publicly recognizing
during their joint news conference that rampant U.S. drug consumption was
in large part the cause of the international narcotics trade in which
Mexico has become a key player.

Fox said it was "very probable" its northern neighbor would suspend for two
years its evaluation of Mexico's cooperation in fighting drug trafficking
- -- an annual source of friction between the two major trade partners.

Mexicans view the so-called certification process, which includes the
potential for sanctions, as demeaning and a breach of its sovereignty.

"The process of suspending certification has begun," Fox said.

On Thursday a group of U.S. senators from border states introduced a bill
to waive the yearly counter-narcotics certification for Mexico for one year.

Mexico is a producer of marijuana and opium poppies, the raw material for
heroin, and a major transshipment point for Colombian cocaine. Some U.S.
legislators and anti-narcotics agents have criticized the Mexican anti-drug
effort as inept and plagued by corruption.

Fox also said there had been a sea change on the immigration issue, with
Bush recognizing the U.S. need for Mexican labor as its ``baby boom''
generation ages.

Mexico wants the United States to allow into the country Mexican ``guest
workers,'' legalizing their work north of the border.

"I think this is wonderful," Fox said. "Such a possibility has never been
discussed before."

Some 8.2 million Mexicans live in the United States, about one third of
them illegally.

The two leaders decided to quickly begin high-level negotiations to find
agreement on immigration and labor issues as the United States tries to
balance the need for law enforcement with demand for workers on to pick
lettuce, pound nails, and wait on tables.

Press Lament U.S. Protagonism

But the Mexican press were disappointed the visit, which had been
anticipated with great fanfare, was ultimately overshadowed by the first
major military action of the Bush administration that grabbed headlines
worldwide.

Reporters peppered the presidents' news conference on Friday with questions
about the bombing, which Bush said was aimed at enforcing no-fly zones in
Iraq established after the 1991 Gulf War.

"Iraq spoils Fox's fiesta," read the banner headline in the Reforma daily.

The left-leaning La Jornada went as far as to say the bombing was a
not-so-subtle message from Washington that Mexico should cooperate with its
northern neighbor, especially in providing much needed energy resources.

"Over the meeting, described as working and informal, floated a dark and
formal threat of military power ready to be used against the most faithful
allies and servants," the Mexico City daily said.