'Otherwise, what you'll have is more migratation'

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico (AP) --President Vicente Fox criticized American farm
subsidies, saying he will approach President Bush this weekend about making terms of
free-trade agreements less painful for Mexican farmers.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, Fox called for more American
attention to Mexico's affairs and vowed to push Bush on an immigration
agreement that was thwarted by the September 11 terrorist attacks. The two
presidents meet Saturday.

"I want to talk to President Bush about the subsidies that the American
government has decided to give, and how to prevent them from affecting
Mexican communities and producers," he said. "Otherwise, what you'll have is
more migration."

Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans head north to look for work in the United
States each year, and hundreds die annually making the trip. Last week, the
badly decayed bodies of 11 suspected illegal immigrants were found trapped in
a boxcar at a grain elevator in Denison, Iowa. The train left the border city of
Matamoros, Mexico, in June.

Fox noted that Mexico and the United States had been "really, really close" to a
migration accord just before September 11, and that Mexico needs an
agreement to help replace illegal immigration with government-sponsored work
visas to the United States.

Since the terrorist attacks, Mexico has often complained of being ignored by
Bush, who made the first foreign trip of his presidency to Fox's ranch and who
initially placed tremendous importance on relations between the two countries.

Over the last year, Fox has found himself competing for Bush's attention,
although both leaders insist they remain close allies.

Wants a migration accord in 2003

Fox said the U.S. agriculture subsidies will hurt Mexican farmers and must be
phased out under the North American Free Trade Agreement, which covers
Mexico, the United States and Canada.

"I hope we can come out of (APEC) with a great enthusiasm for open markets
and for the eradication of subsidies," he said.

Bush administration policies that give money and preferential treatment to the
big players in the American farming industry don't play well abroad, where
cheaper, more dominant U.S. goods can undersell local products and drive
smaller farmers out of work.

The attention to the subsidies -- which Fox had not made a central issue before
-- could signal a chilling of the Mexican president's normally effusive
relationship with Washington.

Fox was scheduled to visit Bush's Texas ranch in August, but canceled when
the state executed a Mexican man despite Fox's objections. Fox, citing a lack
of time, said he wouldn't bring up the execution in his meeting with Bush.

He made clear that his top priority would be the migration accord.

"I want to propose to (Bush) that during 2003 we take this theme up again with
great commitment so we have a result in 2003," Fox said. "I hope we can get
the attention of the U.S. government to Mexico's affairs, to Latin America's
affairs."

Fox said given the experience with the United States, Mexico was proceeding
cautiously in negotiations on a free-trade agreement with Japan. Fox and
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi are expected to launch talks
between their countries on such an agreement at a meeting Sunday evening.

"Mexico has acquired great experience in terms of free-trade agreements. We
know what works and what doesn't better than anyone -- even better than
Japan," Fox said. "So we're going to be very careful with what is included."

Since ousting Mexico's long-ruling party in 2000, Fox has tried to increase his
country's stature internationally.

He said Mexico's membership on the U.N. Security Council -- as well as its
hosting of the APEC meeting, a major U.N. conference earlier this year and the
World Trade Organization meeting in September 2003 -- are a part of that
effort.

"It's an important change in our foreign policy, that has to do with making our
presence and participation more dynamic everywhere that decisions are made,"
he said.

"APEC has to do with our decision to participate in that select group of
countries who decide humanity's path. It's much more valuable to be part of the
decisions than to be a passive spectator."

Copyright 2002 The Associated Press.