U.S. SHOULD LEGALIZE DRUGS TO CURB VIOLENCE, FOX SAYS

Ex-President of Mexico Also Calls on America to Scrap the Fence

Vicente Fox, a former president of Mexico, waves to the crowd as he
and his wife, Marta Sahagun, arrive at a venue on the University of
Houston where he was to deliver a speech on "Leadership and
Spirituality in America."

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox said in Houston on Tuesday that
the United States should legalize drugs to end the violence in Mexico.

During a speech at the University of Houston, Fox noted that Mexico is
located between drug-producing nations in South America and the
world's largest drug-consuming nation, the United States.

"We just happen to be in between," Fox said.

In the last few years, drug cartel violence has tarnished Mexico's
image -- hurting tourism and foreign direct investment, he said.

"We're paying a huge price," Fox told the audience of mostly students,
who applauded his suggestion that the United States decriminalize drug
consumption to reduce violence -- as occurred when the U.S. repealed
alcohol Prohibition in the 1930s.

He also called on the United States to tear down the fence it built
along part of its border with Mexico to reduce illegal
immigration.

"Instead of building walls, we should be building bridges," said Fox,
who spoke to several Houston groups during his Tuesday visit.

The 2000 election of Fox, a member of the National Action Party, ended
the 71-year rule of the Institutional Revolutionary Party.

Democracy began to take hold in Latin America in the 1980s and 1990s
and that's helped the region's economy and reduced poverty, he said.

"Latin America for the first time has enjoyed the best 10 years that
we have ever had," he said. "I really hope we can stay on path."

Venezuela and Cuba are the only nations in the region that are not
part of that democratic wave, said Fox, who spoke to several groups in
Houston on Tuesday.

He said Venezuela's leader, Hugo Chavez, is hurting the oil-rich South
American nation's economy and future. "He's destroying Venezuela. He's
wasting all of the oil."