HERE'S TO A MORE MATURE U.S.-MEXICO BOND

PRESIDENT Bush's visit to Mexico has given rise to high expectations of a
new partnership between the United States and its neighbor.

Today's visit takes place under auspicious circumstances as both Bush and
President Vicente Fox are at the beginning of their terms. The fact that
Bush's first official international trip should be to Mexico is a clear
signal of the prominence that he gives to relations with Mexico. In turn,
Fox is well aware of the singular place that the United States occupies on
Mexico's international agenda.

Since the late 1980s, profound changes have occurred in Mexico and the
United States, as well as in the international arena. Both countries are
uniquely placed to play a defining role in shaping the post-Cold War world.
Arguably, there has never been a better time for Mexico and the United
States to work together on the basis of a full, mature and equitable
partnership for prosperity.

A full relationship requires that both countries constructively engage not
only in their mutual agenda, but also on relevant regional and global
issues, regardless of whether they have a direct impact on bilateral
interests. Greater interconnectedness means that we must try harder to
jointly deal with issues such as trans-national organized crime or
migration flows. It also requires that we address issues such as the
structural reforms needed to guarantee long-term growth and economic
convergence between our two peoples, the protection of human rights and the
advancement of democracy throughout the world and the hemisphere.
Evidently, reaching understanding and achieving consensus between two
democratic nations, which Mexico and the United States are today, is harder
than in the past, when Mexico's authoritarian rule sometimes made things
easier. But democracies working together make for a more solid and lasting
relationship.

A mature relationship means that both countries can explicitly refer to
their common perceptions and agreements as well as to their differences or
disagreements. And they can talk about differences on bilateral issues such
as border infrastructure or trucking disputes, as well as on regional
issues such as Cuba or the Kyoto Protocol on combating global warming.
Maturity also means that the long-term objectives of the bilateral agenda
will not be jeopardized even if disagreements occur, as they will in a
complex relationship. Maturity requires that transparency becomes the name
of the game: There must be no embarrassing agreements to hide or carefully
glossed-over disagreements.

And finally, an equitable relationship entails the need to foster growth
and development to narrow the social, environmental and even digital divide
that separates our societies. There is an array of economic instruments at
the disposal of both nations that must be used to address the needs of the
lesser-developed areas and the most vulnerable groups in our societies.

Moreover, regardless of the imbalance between Mexico and the United States,
both governments must engage each other in a constructive and balanced
fashion, fostering and deepening trust. The best way that both countries
can work toward this is through permanent and predictable engagement, thus
eliminating surprises and discarding unilateral actions, such as the
process through which the United States annually certifies whether other
nations are cooperating in the fight against drugs. Cooperation between
Mexico and the United States is not a nicety; it is a necessity.

The newfound legitimacy and self-assuredness of the Mexican government has
been acknowledged both at home and abroad. The winds of change in Mexico
are laying a more stable and solid foundation on which to build a new
relationship with the United States.

North America is about more than trade; it is becoming a larger reality as
the peoples, economies and environments of Canada, the United States and
Mexico become increasingly intertwined. The North American Free Trade
Agreement has represented an ambitious effort to redefine North America's
role in the hemisphere and in the world. It also has created a long-term
perspective for the relationship. But there is much more that Mexico and
the United States can do together. They must go one step beyond. The
meeting between Fox and Bush in Guanajuato offers a credible and unique
opportunity to set the stage for a more promising future, a future of
shared prosperity and true partnership.