JESSE HELMS WARMS UP TO MEXICO, ANNOUNCES TRIP

WASHINGTON -- Just as Nixon went to China, Helms is going to Mexico.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms, R-N.C., often a
harsh critic of America's southern neighbor, announced yesterday that the
committee will hold an unprecedented meeting with its Mexican counterpart
in Mexico City this month.

The surprise move was another sign of the government's prolonged honeymoon
with President Vicente Fox and its hope for a warmer era in U.S.-Mexican
relations.

"Sen. Helms is extremely impressed by President Fox," said George Grayson,
a foreign affairs expert at the College of William and Mary in Virginia.
"He has been sending unmistakable signals that he believes there is a dawn
of a new era in Mexico."

Helms has said Fox's election "opens avenues for genuine friendship and
cooperation."

That's a change from Helms' previous criticism of Mexico for government
corruption, rampant drug trafficking and friendly relations with Cuba.

Helms said he broached the idea of a committee visit to Mexico in a meeting
with Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda a few weeks ago. That's the same
Jorge Castaneda whom Helms criticized as anti-American when Fox appointed him.

"I am convinced that such a gesture by the U.S. Senate, and this committee
in particular, will help solidify the emerging friendship between our two
governments and will contribute to strengthening the long-standing
friendship between our two peoples," Helms said.

The committee will meet with Fox and other Mexican officials to also
discuss drugs, immigration and other border issues. The three-day visit
starts April 16, a Helms aide said.

Among the committee members joining Helms will be Sens. Joseph Biden,
D-Del., the committee's lead Democrat; Chuck Hagel, R-Neb; and Christopher
Dodd, D-Conn. All 18 committee members have been invited.

"This will be, to the best of our knowledge, the first time in history that
a committee of the U.S. Congress has held a joint meeting on foreign soil
with a committee of another nation's congress or parliament," Helms said.

This won't be the first time Helms has visited a foil. Helms caused a stir
last year when he addressed the United Nations, another body he has criticized.

Helms has since blessed a deal to release $582 million in U.S. dues owed to
the United Nations in return for a reduction of the U.S. share of operating
and peacekeeping costs.

Helms wrote a letter published in Mexico City's Reforma newspaper on the
day President Bush met with Fox at his ranch in Guanajuato. Helms had
nothing good to say about the Institutional Revolutionary Party that held
power for 71 years before Fox won the presidency last year.

"The United States recognizes Fox as a genuinely democratic leader and a
true reformer -- and U.S. leaders of all stripes as more than disposed to
work with him," Helms wrote.

Grayson said the Foreign Relations Committee under Helms hasn't played a
very substantive role in U.S.-Mexico policy and he doesn't think the trip
will change that.

"But it's an important message to Fox. It shows continued U.S. interest in
the Mexicans," he said.