TEXAS, MEXICO MUST RESTORE BENEFICIAL RELATIONSHIP

The relationship between Texas and Mexico is too important to allow it to
be "damaged" by Mexican President Vicente Fox's recent cancellation of his
trip to Texas. Fox did so in protest of the recent execution of a Texas
inmate who was according to one report a Mexican national.

The United States (most especially Texas) and Mexico have had a steadily
improving relationship during the past 10 years. There's no reason such
positive momentum cannot be continued, even after Fox's rude cancellation.

Challenging issues need to be resolved by the two nations (immigration
problems, water treaty woes, NAFTA issues, etc.), and significant results
will occur only if there is a spirit of cooperation.

We urge the immediate repair of hurt feelings -- in the spirit of
neighborly goodwill -- among Texas and Mexican officials. But even so, it
is difficult to ignore the contradictory nature of Fox's action.

Mexico isn't the only nation that objects to the use of the death penalty
in the United States. That argument aside, it's difficult to accept Fox's
criticism on the matter when Mexico has such a reprehensible record of
human-rights violations and endemic drug- cartel corruption.

Speaking from a regional perspective, the horrible and continuing murders
of more than 300 Juarez girls and women during the past few years comes to
mind -- as does Mexico's abject failure to halt these heart-wrenching
murders. Add to the picture the hundreds of murders of men (many believed
to be drug related) also right next door in Juarez.

Former interim El Paso Police Chief J.R. Grijalva offered an insightful
observation that will draw agreement from many El Pasoans: "I think the
Mexican government should be more concerned with individuals who are
running loose in their own country, right across our border, brutally
murdering their own helpless female citizens and leaving their bones to
bleach in the sun.

"After they protect their own populace, then and only then do they have a
right to complain about what happens in our country."

If Fox wishes to spark a debate about Texas' use of the death penalty -- a
debate many Texans would welcome -- he is free to do so. But it needs to be
done appropriately. Considering how Texas officials, along with President
Bush, have bent over backward to roll out the red carpet to Fox, the manner
in which the Mexican president canceled the planned trip to Texas was
highly undiplomatic and, well, highly unfriendly.