MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) -- In years past, Mexican and U.S. leaders were
                  lucky to see each other once a year -- if at all.

                  But Mexico's President Vincente Fox and U.S. President George W. Bush will
                  mark their third meeting this year when they sit down at the White House on
                  Thursday -- an unprecedented showing of diplomacy between the two
                  neighboring countries.

                  "The intentions are there to collaborate and not generate the tensions that have
                  traditionally existed," analyst Jose Antonio Crespo said. "There is a good
                  disposition to collaborate and smooth out the issues of immigration and drugs."

                  Fox and Bush are expected to continue
                  discussions they held last month at the Quebec City summit of Western
                  hemisphere leaders. The two leaders also met in February at Fox's ranch.

                  In Quebec City, Bush expressed interest in importing energy from Mexico and
                  Canada, which have large reserves of oil and natural gas. The deals could involve
                  billions of dollars.

                  Bush also wants Fox to build energy plants in Mexico that will help produce
                  electricity for the western United States; Fox will continue his push for support
                  of a temporary U.S. visa program for Mexican workers.

                  And both will be looking for ways to fight drug smuggling and keep their
                  closely-linked economies from spinning into recessions.

                  One of the main tangles between Mexico and Washington is a U.S. refusal to
                  allow Mexican trucks full access to U.S. highways because of Mexico's lax
                  truck safety standards.

                  Crespo said Fox's democratic 2000 victory that ended 71 years of single-party
                  rule in Mexico gave his government a better standing with the United States over
                  past administrations.

                  "There is a base of legitimacy with the Fox government that allows it to take a
                  little firmer position in certain areas and demand more respect," Crespo said.

                  Fox and Bush will also speak at the 95th annual meeting of the American Jewish
                  Congress. Fox aims to patch up Mexico's relationship with the Congress, which
                  in the 1970s hurt Mexico's tourism industry after then-President Luis Echeverria
                  spearheaded the 1975 U.N. resolution equating Zionism with racism.

                  And while many Mexican Jews voted for Fox, the Jewish community remains
                  concerned about Fox's conservative political party, considered to have an
                  allegiance with the Roman Catholic Church.

                  Fox "recognizes the importance of the Jewish community and its influence as
                  one of the most successful and influential immigrant communities in the United
                  States, which like the Mexican community, has migrated to other countries, met
                  the challenges and turned them into opportunities," the Mexican government said
                  in a statement.

                  Fox will invite the Jewish-American community to invest in Mexico.

                  Fox will return to Mexico on Friday.

                  Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.