Juan Jose Bremer

President Vicente Fox has chosen a veteran diplomat as ambassador to Washington, quickly filling a key post in the new administration's drive to establish a broader relationship and more open border with the United States. Juan Jose Bremer, 56, a lawyer and politician, has been posted to the former Soviet Union, Germany and Spain as Mexico's ambassador during the last 12 years. Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda said Friday that the U.S.

President Vicente Fox has chosen a veteran diplomat as ambassador to Washington, quickly filling a key post in the new administration's drive to establish a broader relationship and more open border with the United States. Juan Jose Bremer, 56, a lawyer and politician, has been posted to the former Soviet Union, Germany and Spain as Mexico's ambassador during the last 12 years. Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda said Friday that the U.S.

A coordinated effort by the United States and Mexico would be more effective in stemming the flow of illegal aliens than unilateral U.S. efforts, such as the immigration reform bill passed last week in the House of Representatives, said a Mexican senator attending a meeting here Saturday. Sen. Hugo Margain, co-chairman of the independent Bilateral Commission on the Future of United States-Mexican Relations, said the Simpson-Rodino bill, which would impose criminal penalties on U.S.

A coordinated effort by the United States and Mexico would be more effective in stemming the flow of illegal aliens than unilateral U.S. efforts, such as the immigration reform bill passed last week in the House of Representatives, said a Mexican senator attending a meeting here Saturday. Sen. Hugo Margain, co-chairman of the independent Bilateral Commission on the Future of United States-Mexican Relations, said the Simpson-Rodino bill, which would impose criminal penalties on U.S.

Mexico's Cinco de Mayo holiday became an official celebration at the Capitol, further indication of the growing influence of Latinos on the Hill. The event, held the same day that Mexican President Vicente Fox arrived for meetings with President Bush, featured a lunch attended by lawmakers led by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri. Guests included Mexican Health Secretary Julio Frenk and Mexican Ambassador Juan Jose Bremer.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour's assertion that he did not personally work for the government of Mexico when his lobbying firm represented the country a decade ago is contradicted by the firm's own federal filings, which describe him as a leader of the team assigned to the account. During an appearance Saturday at the California Republican Convention in Sacramento, Barbour denied a reporter's statement that he once "lobbied for the government of Mexico on the issue of amnesty and a path to citizenship.

Following an agreement by President Bush and his Mexican counterpart to renew long-stalled immigration talks, momentum has surged in Congress for a bill to help an estimated 500,000 undocumented farm workers gain legal residency in the United States. The bill, which would also expand a foreign guest-worker program that agricultural businesses covet, is gaining crucial bipartisan support.

The relationship of the United States with Mexico today is unique--and uniquely troubled. In the entire world, there is no border quite like this one, a porous frontier dividing the most economically advanced nation from a developing country, a line between riches and poverty. That line separates two profoundly different national experiences. We have come to the late 20th Century by very different paths. Our colonial past made us different from the beginning.