TRIP CANCELLATION KEEPS RELATIONSHIP OFF TRACK

Mexico President Vicente Fox's decision to cancel his trip to Texas is
unfortunate.

Fox was to visit President Bush at his ranch in Crawford, as well as
four cities in Texas, including San Antonio.

He canceled the trip to protest the execution of Javier Suarez Medina,
a Mexican citizen who was convicted in 1989 of the murder of a Dallas
Police Department undercover narcotics officer. Suarez, who was 19 at
the time, confessed to the slaying.

Mexican officials contended that Suarez was not advised of his right
under international law to contact Mexican consular officials for
legal support.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry could have issued a 30-day stay, but he did
not.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, whose members are appointed by
the governor, voted unanimously against commuting Suarez's death
sentence. For either Perry or the board to have ruled otherwise would
have been surprising.

The U.S. State Department also declined to get involved.

As president of a nation that has no death penalty, Fox could justify
the cancellation of his trip because of politics and on principle,
although members of his own National Action Party had an alternate
suggestion.

According to the Associated Press, PAN officials urged him to go to
Texas anyway - and deliver a "respectful but firm speech" to Perry.

It was a reasonable suggestion, given the host of issues that require
the mutual attention of Mexico and the United States.

They include death-penalty diplomacy. Seventeen Mexicans face the
death penalty in Texas, 54 in all of the United States. This means
that the issue of how this nation deals with foreigners on death row
was not resolved with this week's execution.

Fox's protest - along with pleas on Suarez's behalf from 12 other
Latin American nations, as well as Spain and Portugal - focuses
attention on this nation's obligation to be respectful of
international humanitarian standards