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. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth