Pubdate: Thu, 21 Mar 2002
Source: El Paso Times (TX)
Copyright: 2002 El Paso Times
Contact:  http://www.elpasotimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/829
Author: James Kuhnhenn, Knight Ridder News Service

BUSH'S TRIP INTENDED TO BOOST U.S. INFLUENCE IN LATIN AMERICA

WASHINGTON -- President Bush visits Latin America this week to focus on 
controlling immigration, combating drugs and expanding trade, issues that 
have been redefined since Sept. 11.

The brisk four-day, three-country tour, which begins today, aims to 
reassert U.S. leadership in a hemisphere that is eager to get back on the 
president's radar. The largely symbolic excursion will reunite Bush with 
Mexican President Vicente Fox and showcase the fledgling democracies of 
Peru and El Salvador.

It could serve Bush well politically at home, where he has made a point of 
courting Hispanic voters.

But he will travel relatively empty-handed. The Senate has yet to act on an 
Andean trade agreement and on legislation that would tighten border 
security and provide extended stays to thousands of undocumented 
immigrants, both key initiatives aimed at Latin America.

Still, administration officials and foreign diplomats say, Bush's meetings 
could set the stage for significant breakthroughs on crucial regional 
issues such as immigration, commerce and narco-terrorism.

But three days before Bush's arrival in Peru, a car bomb outside the U.S. 
Embassy in Lima killed at least six people and injured 30 others.
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