BUSH, FOX MEETING TO STRESS TIES, NOT DIFFERENCES

WASHINGTON - President Bush is open to ending the annual U.S.
evaluation of Mexico's drug-fighting efforts, officials said Thursday,
in a goodwill gesture on the eve of Bush's trip to visit newly
installed Mexican President Vicente Fox.

"Mexico has seen a new birth of freedom," Bush said at the State
Department as he prepared for the first foreign trip of his
presidency. Fox and other Mexican leaders have railed against the
congressionally mandated drug certification process, which can result
in economic penalties.

Talks between the two leaders are expected to trace a wide range of
issues, including immigration, trade, energy and drugs. But no major
developments are planned for the scheduled 7 1/2 -hour session at San
Cristobal, the site of Fox's dusty ranch 210 miles northwest of Mexico
City in the state of Guanajuato.

Bush and Fox - both ranch owners who favor Western wear and enchiladas
- - plan to stress their personal ties, not their nations' differences.
As they meet, there will be a series of picture-taking sessions
showing them in cozy, casual settings.

"President Fox and I met as governors, and I look forward to deepening
our friendship," said Bush, a former two-term Texas governor. "But I
look forward even more to forging a deeper partnership between our two
great nations." One sticking point in U.S.-Mexico relations is the
14-year-old law requiring the U.S. president to certify annually which
of nearly 30 countries are cooperating in the fight against drug
trafficking. Those considered not to be doing enough can be
"decertified" and face possible sanctions. The next deadline for State
Department decisions on certification is March 1.

The process has infuriated many countries, most notably Mexico, that
view it as a condescending and hypocritical exercise by the nation
that is the world's largest consumer of illegal drugs. Mexico has
never failed to be certified.

Previewing the trip, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said
Bush wants to work with Mexico to reduce drug trafficking and has
noted "some questions that have been raised on Capitol Hill about
whether the current certification regime is, indeed, the most
appropriate way to do so." He was referring to proposals that would
change or eliminate the certification process, including one that
would exempt Mexico for one year and another that would end the
process altogether.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, a major defender of certifications,
wants to change the process to focus more on countries with poor records.

Fleischer said of Bush, "He's open to reviewing the legislative
proposals that have been made." Two administration officials said the
White House is signaling Bush's willingness to lift or dramatically
change the certification process as a gesture to Mexico.

They noted that only Congress could change the law and said it was
highly unlikely that Bush would make his support a part of the joint
statement that he and Fox will release after today's meetings.

A senior administration official, who conducted a White House news
conference, suggested that Bush's stance was linked to Fox's election,
which ended seven decades of one-party control. She called Fox a
"dedicated partner" in the war on drugs.

Secretary of State Colin Powell said during his confirmation hearing
that certification can be "self-defeating" and a sign of "American
hubris," though he stressed that he had not yet discussed the topic
with Bush.