Meeting spotlights U.S.Mexico rift

last updated 8 January 2015

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Debate over terrorism and war overshadowed the official agenda at last week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference. Twenty-one world leaders representing nearly half the global economy met at this seaside resort to hammer out wide-ranging trade agreements. But the real heat came from President Bush’s attempts to win support for tough action against Indonesian terrorists, North Korea, and Iraq. Bush found particular resistance from the conference’s host, Mexican President Vicente Fox, once among his closest allies. Fox is reportedly angry that Bush has broken pre-9/11 promises to ease immigration and trade with Mexico. The two leaders sat stiffly and unsmiling during a joint appearance; their former backslapping and trading of nicknames was nowhere in evidence.