U.S., MEXICO GOVERNORS MEET TO SEEK BORDER SOLUTIONS

TAMPICO, Mexico--U.S. and Mexican border governors gathered here Friday in
a meeting that bubbled with provocative proposals to solve problems ranging
from critical shortages of energy and water to drug trafficking and
immigration.

Arizona Gov. Jane Dee Hull pushed a "foreign guest worker program" as a way
of eliminating the kind of desert tragedy that cost 14 Mexicans their lives
in her state last month. Smugglers who led migrants into the desert were
"deserving of the death penalty," she said.

New Mexico's Gary Johnson touted his campaign to legalize marijuana. The
idea failed to garner unanimous support among the governors but won
approval for an academic commission to study drug addiction as a "health,
not a criminal, problem."

"You don't go from an arrest 'em, lock 'em up situation to legalization
overnight," Johnson said in an interview. "But every governor here is at
least willing to look at some middle ground."

The declaration issued at the meeting's close was devoid of bold
initiatives, dealing mostly with agricultural questions, border crossings
and vague environmental goals. Absent were specific proposals on changing
immigration or drug laws, by far the highest profile border issues.

The governors are aware that it is the federal government, not the states,
that is responsible for policies on drugs, immigration and energy.
Moreover, governors strive to avoid creating controversy in meetings
designed mainly to generate goodwill.

But when asked individually, governors prove only too willing to express
opinions, some of which go against the grain politically.

Fernando Canales Clariond of Nuevo Leon, for example, said the Mexican
Constitution should be amended to allow greater foreign involvement in
energy exploration, a nervy proposal in a country where national
sovereignty is wrapped up in the state-run oil monopoly, Pemex.

Tamaulipas Gov. Tomas Yarrington, the meeting's host, and Sonora Gov.
Armando Lopez Nogales both proposed radical steps, possibly some sort of
state of emergency, to alert both nations to the scarcity of water in the
border area.

"There needs to be some regional scheme because the water is the common
denominator that ties us all together," Lopez said. "We need to see water
for the urgent issue that it is."

Of 10 border governors--four on the U.S. side and six from Mexico--only
California's Gray Davis was absent from this year's meeting.

The reason Davis begged off, California officials said, was his total
absorption in the state's electricity crisis.

Arizona Gov. Hull's idea to create a new type of temporary guest worker
permit as a means of stemming the rising toll of migrant deaths reflects
immigration's high priority in any binational discussion.

Fourteen Mexicans died of dehydration last month in 115-degree heat in the
Arizona desert more than 35 miles from the nearest highway, Hull said.
Desert deaths have risen as tightened border patrols in urban areas have
sent migrants farther into wilderness areas to make border crossings.

"The problem of migration has touched us in a profound way not seen
before," Hull told reporters.

President Bush, in a taped greeting to the governors, said he and Mexican
President Vicente Fox have met several times to find ways to, among other
things, ensure "safe and orderly migration." That language was hailed by
some Mexicans here as a sign that U.S. resistance to a more open border is
crumbling.

At least two bills moving through the U.S. Congress would liberalize
immigration law by allowing freer migration and by helping formalize the
status of Mexican residents in the United States.

Another topic of concern was energy, with most Mexican governors voicing
support for greater foreign involvement in energy development and delivery.
Nuevo Leon's Canales said that the 400 new natural gas wells being drilled
this year in northern Mexico are not enough to supply Mexico's energy
needs, and that foreign capital is needed.

Baja California Gov. Alejandro Gonzalez Alcocer said he supports foreign
energy investment in his state, confirming that two huge liquid natural gas
terminals costing hundreds of millions of dollars apiece may be built in Baja.

By the end of this year, new Baja power plants will be exporting 500
megawatts of electricity to California, enough to light 500,000 households.
Baja currently exports 50 megawatts.