FOX UPBEAT, VOWS BOLD AGENDA FOR MEXICO SUMMIT WITH BUSH

SAN CRISTOBAL, Mexico -- President Vicente Fox strode confidently across
the shady plaza where President Bush will arrive tomorrow to talk
U.S.-Mexico policy.

Fox was smiling. He was upbeat about the presidential visit. But he was
also clear and emphatic about what he wants to achieve. He lifted his long
fingers one by one as he ticked off the items on the agenda:

"The issue of immigration. The issue of drug trafficking. The issue of
energy. The issue of economic development," Fox said as he stood before a
gaggle of microphones after attending Sunday Mass in the pueblo's
18th-century church.

"We are going to speak about each and every one of the problems," he said.
"But we are also going to speak about each and every one of the opportunities."

For Fox's nascent administration, the Bush visit is seen as a turning point
in the often-turbulent relationship between Mexico and the United States.

Expectations are running high that the two countries can set aside some of
their long-standing differences and forge a new relationship based on
mutual interest and trust.

But there are also doubts about whether decades of mistrust can be erased
by Mexico's charismatic president, a former Coca-Cola executive whose name,
height and smooth English make him seem almost American to many in the
United States.

Even in the best of times, Mexico's deep-rooted corruption, dangerous drug
cartels and unending stream of U.S.-bound migrants have dominated the
relationship.

Now, Fox said, Mexico and the United States are ready to put the
finger-pointing aside and work together to solve these complex problems.
Shifting to English so he could be understood in the United States, he
described this new relationship as a "partnership for prosperity."

Fox relishes pointing out that Mexico is a changed country. For the first
time in 71 years, Mexico has an opposition president chosen in a democratic
election.

"You can't forget July 2," Fox said of his victory. "Today, Mexico is a
democratic country with moral authority. We can speak as equals with any
country in the world."

To prove his point, he will bring up subjects during tomorrow's meeting
with Bush that Mexican presidents have never dared raise before.

"Mexicans have always been very careful about what they put on the agenda,"
said a high-level official in the Fox administration who asked not to be
named. "They always expected resistance. They always expected that things
would move very slowly or not move at all. On the other hand, they always
feared that if you put a bold topic on the agenda, you would get it back
with something you might not want to discuss."

The advantage with the Bush administration, the official said, is that "so
far, they have been pretty open for us to put any topic on the agenda. . .
. It's not simply posturing, and it's not simply good will. It's a
remarkable political interest in exploring topics and in strengthening the
relationship."

Fox is expected to bring up the prickly issue of a guest-worker program,
which would allow legal, temporary immigration of Mexican farm workers to
the United States. He will also push for an end to the annual drug
certification process. And he will step up his demand that the United
States do more to curb migrant deaths at the border.

In return, Fox may give favorable consideration to Bush's ideas for a North
American energy policy, although one political observer warned that Fox
can't afford to publicly endorse "any deal that could be construed as
handing over Mexico's national patrimony to Bush and his oil-patch cronies."

Fox has singled out Bush as a president he can work with. The two met in
1996, when they were both governors.

He describes Bush as "a positive man, an optimistic man, a man with a
vision of the future. And he is a man with whom . . . we are going to have
positive solutions to the problem of immigration, to the problem of drug
trafficking."

At home, Bush has been labeled a foreign policy lightweight who admits
Mexico is the one country he knows. Many say that's why he is traveling to
Mexico for his first out-of-country trip.

But given Bush's openness to new policy ideas and his sense of Mexico's
importance to the United States, Fox's government is willing to forgive him
if he's slow on the foreign-policy learning curve.

"President Bush might not know a lot of foreign policy or he might not be
very familiar with the very complex issues of U.S.-Mexican relations," the
official said, "but he certainly clicked with President Fox."

Personality will play a big role when the two presidents meet.

Bush will spend most of his six-hour Mexico visit on Fox's ranch, this
country's equivalent of Camp David, situated in the picturesque pueblo of
San Cristobal near Leon in Guanajuato state.

Between serious sessions of policy talk, the presidents are expected to
tour the ranch on two of Fox's favorite horses, Maximilian and The King.

They will also enjoy a leisurely Mexican lunch. Although the menu hasn't
been revealed, one old-timer in San Cristobal suggested the pueblo's
traditional fare of beans, nopal cactus and pork cooked in spicy chili sauce.

But beyond the public relations value -- which is considerable for both
presidents -- there is substance to the trip, several political analysts say.

Not since the days when Lyndon Johnson was president has Mexico had such a
good friend in the White House.

"Like Lyndon Johnson, Bush is from Texas. Like Lyndon Johnson, Bush
understands the value of immigration," said Mexico City political analyst
Primitivo Rodriguez. "Like Lyndon Johnson, Bush knows the importance of
Mexico from the negative issues -- like drug trafficking -- to the positive
issues -- like trade."

Some see the visit as a carefully orchestrated series of photo
opportunities with a few minutes of high-level talks squeezed in between.

"It's really about bonding," said political analyst Federico Estevez.
"They're just two old cowboys riding off into the sunset for photos ops."

The Fox-Bush summit could send important signals, not only to Mexicans and
Americans, but to people throughout the region, about a shift in relations
between the two countries and their chief executives.

"Both of these presidents have good people skills and they get along,"
Estevez said. "When times get tough for Mexico and the United States, it's
better to have good chemistry than not."