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Relations warm up for U.S., neighbors

WACO, Texas - It was just a two-word comment about the weather, but Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin's quip summed up warming U.S. relations with its neighbors to the north and south.

"No snow," was Martin's upbeat assessment of President Bush's 1,600-acre spread where green grass, a bright sun and budding trees offered an appropriate backdrop for thawing U.S. ties with Mexico and Canada.

To demonstrate unity, Bush, Martin and Mexico's President Vicente Fox appeared together at Baylor University to announce a neighborhood pact. It's designed to make trade more efficient and the borders more secure without obstructing business and traffic.

"We've got a lot of trade with each other," Bush said. "We intend to keep it that way. We've got a lot of crossings of the border. I intend to make our borders more secure and facilitate legal traffic."

U.S. relations with Mexico and Canada chilled early in Bush's first term when neither nation backed his decision to invade Iraq. Bilateral disputes festered as the United States focused on events in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Sore spots remain. Mexico still wants to see U.S. immigration changes. The Bush administration suspects al-Qaida agents may be crossing into the United States from the south. Fox has complained about vigilantes hunting and killing Mexican immigrants along the Arizona border.

Canada probably will bring up a dispute over American tariffs on easy-to-saw Canadian lumber.

"We've got a lot to do," said Bush.

When asked whether Canada would reconsider its decision to join the ballistic missile defense system, Martin replied: "On BMD, the file is closed. But our cooperation, in terms of defense, in terms of our borders, in terms of the defense of our common frontiers, is not only very clear, but it is being accentuated."

The leaders also agreed to cooperate more on energy exploration and on combating terrorism and drug trafficking.

"We are seeking an objective balance between the concerns that we have to do with security and those that have to do with having a good and agile flow of goods and people across the borders," Fox said.

Fox mentioned U.S. immigration policy. Bush's proposal for a "guest worker" program faces obstacles in Congress.

The leaders took a helicopter ride to Bush's ranch where they were served grilled chicken breasts, fried shrimp, spring vegetables and cheese biscuits.

[Last modified March 24, 2005, 01:21:06]