United States Foreign Relations Mexico

The House on Thursday gave the Bush Administration the go-ahead to begin negotiations on a free-trade agreement with Mexico, and the Senate is expected to follow suit today. The 231-192 House vote was a major victory for President Bush, who had lobbied hard to overcome a powerful coalition of opponents that included labor, environmental and consumer groups. "I couldn't be more pleased," Bush told reporters. "The vote was, frankly, larger than I anticipated."

The Mexican government on Wednesday requested the extradition of a Guadalajara doctor who was abducted last month and spirited to the United States to stand trial in the 1985 torture-murder of U.S. drug agent Enrique Camarena. In a bulletin issued by the Foreign Ministry, the government said it was asking for the return of Dr.

Guillermo Acevedo runs his general store on a corner of the plaza in the best cracker-barrel tradition. Merchandise is stacked on shelves along the walls, leaving plenty of space and a few extra chairs for customers to linger, sipping soft drinks and chatting, well after they slip their purchases into a plastic market bag. Just as important, Acevedo and his store are the link to life beyond the few blocks of dirt roads between the highway signs that read Jaripo.

When furniture and electronics retailer Grupo FAMSA opened the first of 14 planned stores in Southern California last month, it joined a quiet procession of Mexican companies planting roots north of the border. Founded more than three decades ago in Monterrey, Mexico, FAMSA, or Fabricantes Muebleros, was lured by the purchasing power of Latinos here, a market second in size only to that of Mexico City.

If St. Joseph's Hospital had been built just a few feet farther south, or if it had been just a little bit larger, Carlos Velez-Ibanez might have been born directly atop the U.S.-Mexico border. Not that anyone would have noticed, or cared. In 1936, the border was just a mark on the map that few paid much attention to. In some places, in fact, the locals weren't even sure where the border was.

One of the surprising consequences of the Sept. 11 terror attacks has been Mexico's decisive shift toward a security alliance with the United States, overcoming its deep, historic fear of overly cozy U.S. relations. The attacks set off a fierce debate within the Mexican political elite on how the country should respond to the U.S. call for a global campaign against terrorism. Should Mexico maintain its traditional distance, they asked, invoking the constitution's nonintervention clause?

The U.S. Embassy announced that Mexicans are expected to get 60,000 temporary U.S. work visas in the coming fiscal year under existing programs, a 22% increase over this year's number. The announcement by Ambassador Jeffrey Davidow caused a bit of confusion, coming one week before President Vicente Fox is to visit Washington to put the final touches on a much more ambitious temporary visa program for Mexican migrants.

In a move hailed by environmental activists, a special panel set up by the United States, Mexico and Canada said Wednesday that it will investigate alleged enforcement lapses at an abandoned lead recycling plant in Tijuana that has become a symbol of ecological neglect on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Near the line where cultures collide, furtive men hang out at phone booths along San Ysidro Boulevard, a teeming strip of brightly colored Mexican restaurants, shops and currency exchanges that seems a northern mirror of Tijuana. The men are daredevil drivers-for-hire who take illegal immigrants on the fateful trek to Los Angeles: a raite , it is called--a ride. And the drivers are known as raiteros.

This weekend marks the launching of the fourth incarnation of inSITE, an event whose look, feel and description have changed--at least slightly, but sometimes dramatically--each time it's been staged. Since its inception in 1992, the constants have been these: InSITE showcases installation and site-specific art; it takes place at multiple venues throughout San Diego and Tijuana; and it is as much a model of binational cooperation as it is of communal and individual ambition.