Bush and Calderón Meet in Mérida

U.S. President George W. Bush arrived in Mérida, the capital of Yucatán state, yesterday on the final stop of his tour of Latin America. He has also visited Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, and Guatemala.

Today, President Bush will meet with Mexico's Harvard-educated President Felipe Calderón for the first time since the latter took office in December. The two heads of state are holding talks at Hacienda Temozon Sur, about 30 miles south of Mérida. A press conference is scheduled for Wednesday at a hotel in Mérida.

Calderón and his government are natural allies of the United States, but relations with Washington are strained over immigration policy and spiraling violence linked to drug trafficking. Calderon says Mexico will not tolerate "a relationship of subordination" to the United States.

His words echo widespread frustration throughout Latin America where it is perceived that the U.S. is insensitive to the region's needs. This stems in large part from the Iraq war, which has preoccupied the Bush administration.

As has been the case throughout Bush's Latin America tour, several organizations in Mexico are mounting protests. Demonstrations prior to Bush's arrival saw the display of slogans like "Bush tyrant," "Ku Bush Klan" or "Serial Killer."

According to an opinion poll that the Mexican daily Reforma cited Monday, 37% of Mexicans have a negative image of Bush, while 26% are neutral and 18% are favorable to him. The rest expressed no opinion at all.

Calderón himself said recently that the United States - the main market for illegal drugs - should do "a lot more" to help Mexico in the fight against drug trafficking. Mexican officials point out that, while Mexican drug lords ship cocaine into the United States, their guns mostly come from American weapons dealers.

For his part, in his three months in office, the Mexican president has sent some 30,000 members of the country's security forces to the areas most affected by the drug trade. His government has extradited four drug barons to the U.S., including Gulf Cartel boss Osiel Cardenas Guillen.

Mérida - a city with 800,000 people, some 1,000 miles east of Mexico City - has been watched for days by the U.S. secret services and Mexican security forces in anticipation of the presidential visits. This is Bush's first visit to the city, although he visited the state of Yucatán in March 2006 in conjunction with the trilateral summit in Cancún which also included Canada.

President Bush is set to leave Mérida and return to the United States tomorrow.

Best Regards,

Suzan Haskins
Editor, Mexico Insider
International Living

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