MEXICO AT THE TOP OF BUSH VACATION AGENDA

WASHINGTON - President Bush heads to Texas this week for a monthlong
working vacation that includes plans to meet Mexican President Vicente Fox,
an encounter that could place U.S.-Mexico relations back on the front burner.

Warming relations between the neighboring countries were highlighted a week
before the Sept. 11 terror attacks, when Fox traveled to the White House
for a state dinner.

Since then, the war on terrorism has consumed U.S. foreign policy, and Fox
has been forced to deal with internal political pressures in Mexico.

Bush and Fox "have a very close friendship and relationship," said White
House spokesman Ari Fleischer.

"The president always looks forward to welcoming foreign leaders to his
ranch," Fleischer said.

Fox is making plans to visit Texas cities Aug. 26-28, including stops in
Austin, where he's expected to meet Gov. Rick Perry, and in Dallas, Houston
and San Antonio.

Analysts say the meeting between the two presidents will restore the lost
emphasis on U.S.-Mexico relations.

"Mexico is going to be back on the radar screen," said Armand
Peschard-Sverdrup, director of the Mexico Project at the Washington-based
Center for Strategic and International Studies. "It's an attempt to
jump-start the bilateral relationship."

U.S. and Mexican officials have continued to work on ticklish topics of
immigration, narcotics smuggling, border control and the mounting Mexican
debt of Rio Grande water owed to South Texas farmers.

Mexico owes 1.5 million acre-feet of water to downstream users, according
to a 1944 treaty. Texas lawmakers have lashed out at the Bush
administration for an agreement reached with Mexico that allows the country
to repay only a small portion of the debt.

An acre-foot of water is equal to about 326,000 gallons.

Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-San Antonio, said he hopes Fox addresses the water
debt when he visits the state later this month.

"Mexico continues to renege on the water treaty and we have countless
numbers of farmers and ranchers who are facing losses," said Bonilla, whose
congressional district sweeps from Laredo to El Paso and includes 800 miles
of U.S.-Mexico border.

"There is hardly an issue of greater importance to South Texas than the
water issue," Bonilla said.

Fox's visit to the Bush ranch also comes just a week before Texas Railroad
Commissioner Tony Garza, the president's nominee to become the next U.S.
ambassador to Mexico, is scheduled for a Senate confirmation hearing.

First lady Laura Bush plans to visit Mexico in September at the invitation
of Mexican first lady Martha SahagA n de Fox.

A spotlight on U.S.-Mexico relations could be politically advantageous for
Bush's efforts to court Hispanic voters to the GOP, and for Fox, who's
under increasing pressure at home.

The meeting with Bush "could give President Fox an incredible shot in the
arm," Peschard-Sverdrup said.

Meanwhile, Bush is to undergo his annual physical in Washington on Tuesday
before traveling on to Crawford.

Sensitive to news reports that the president's trip to Texas will stretch
to Labor Day, administration officials sought to characterize the month in
Crawford as a working vacation.

Bush will "bring the White House with him to Crawford," Fleischer said, and
travel to 12 cities during the 25 days in Texas.

The president will take about two weeks for personal time.

"The fact of the matter is, the president is entitled to a vacation just
like everybody else," Fleischer said.

The White House was stung by criticism from Maryland Gov. Parris
Glendening, who in an interview with USA Today, questioned Bush's time off
while the country is grappling with economic woes and the ongoing war on
terrorism.

"This is just a silly town with a lot of silly potshots," Fleischer
responded. "And the president is looking forward to going home to Crawford."