Bush meets Mexican president, Canadian PM in NO

Bush meets Mexican president, Canadian PM in NO
by David Hammer, The Times-Picayune
Monday April 21, 2008, 10:36 AM

President Bush, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper came to New Orleans today to hold one-on-one talks about mutual security and economic issues.


TED JACKSON / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE
Helen Meridy, 16, a student at Warren Easton High School in New Orleans, gets a kiss on the cheek from President George Bush as he arrives at Armstrong International Airport.

The three leaders are in New Orleans today and tomorrow for the fourth annual North American Leaders' Summit. They didn't tour the city, but Calderon made special mention of his countrymen's role in rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina, and Harper said it was his father's "favorite American city."

Bush and Calderon in particular focused on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast when they reopened a Mexican Consulate downtown, restoring a full diplomatic mission in the city where Mexico opened its first consulate in the 1820s.

Bush spoke to dignitaries outside the consulate on Convention Center Boulevard, saying it was a celebration of the reopening of the first Mexican consulate in the U.S. and "the comeback of a great American city."

"You know, I chose New Orleans for our meetings with Mexico and Canada to send a clear signal to the people of my country that New Orleans is open for business, it's a great place to visit and after the devastation of Katrina it's become a hopeful city," Bush said.

Bush introduced New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin at the event as "el alcalde," the Spanish words for "the mayor."

Calderon's office said the consulate first opened in 1826, but closed because of budget cuts in 2002. Bush said in his remarks that it opened in 1824 and Mexican officials last week said it was 1822, but all seemed to agree it was Mexico's first diplomatic mission in the country.

Calderon, speaking in Spanish, said it was important to reopen the New Orleans office for the thousands of Mexicans who live in Louisiana and Mississippi.

"Thousands of Mexicans have found opportunity in the United States," Calderon said. "And they contribute $635 million to the United States' economy."

Calderon said the ties aren't just economic.

"Our ties were strengthened with the tragedies of devastation from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita," he said. "Thousands of Mexicans participated in the reconstruction and I'm happy today to see New Orleans standing and working."

Later, the two met for sit-down talks in the Windsor Court Hotel, discussing border security, including the fight against drug and arms trafficking. Bush said he recognized that when Calderon took office in 2006, he "inherited a difficult situation" with the "high demand for drugs in the United States."

"I want to work with you in close coordination to defeat these drug traffickers," Bush said, sitting next to Calderon.

Calderon responded in Spanish, followed by a translation, but Bush jumped in to say, "I understood every word."

Calderon added his voice to that of Bush and Harper in support of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which is in its 15th year, but has come under renewed fire from U.S. Democratic presidential candidates. The Mexican president said NAFTA has actually slowed migration of Mexican workers to the United States because it's created jobs in both countries.

"Recently, NAFTA has come under criticism, and I don't believe people are realizing the benefits it has brought to the United States and Mexico," Calderon said.

Harper, who spoke in French first, then English, after his face-to-face meeting with Bush, gave few specifics about the talks or his goals. Bush said more, particularly on the issue of agreements to make sure travel of people and goods across their vast shared border would not be hindered by new security measures.

"I remember the last time we met there was great concern about whether the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative would be counterporductive to our continued relationship," Bush said. "And I want to thank your government, thank your ministers and the people in your staff for working hard to find a way that didn't inconvenience the citizens of Canada or the United States."

Bush, Calderon and Harper arrived separately at Louis Armstrong International Airport earlier and were greeted by 150 school children waving flags.

Bush stepped off Air Force One at 10:35 a.m. with a wave and a smile. After a quick salute, he gave Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal a handshake and kissed his wife Supriya Jindal on the cheek. Bush then greeted U.S. Rep. William Jefferson and his wife, Andrea Jefferson, exchanging pats on the arm with the embattled Democratic congressman Bush playfully calls "Jeff."

Next was Nagin, who got a hug and a long handshake from Bush. He also clasped hands with Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, then greeted Secretary of State Jay Dardenne, Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, State Treasurer John Kennedy and Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon.

Kennedy, a former Democrat, is now the Republican challenging U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, and Bush will attend a fundraiser for Kennedy in Baton Rouge tomorrow evening.

Bush headed directly over to a crowd of students standing behind a police baracade on the tarmac. First, he hammed it up with Warren Easton High School students, who held U.S., Mexican and Canadian flags. One starry-eyed girl, Helen Meridy, 16, asked him for a kiss on the cheek with a point of her finger, and Bush quickly obliged. He then moved down the line to slightly less gregarious grade-school kids from Martin Luther King Charter School in the Lower 9th Ward, where he visited on the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Bush was then whisked into a motorcade to head into the city. Traffic was stopped eastbound on I-10 and rubbernecking stopped traffic westbound nearly all the way to Bonnabel. He was brought to the Windsor Court Hotel, where local FEMA director Jim Stark was among federal officials holding meetings with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

Calderon arrived at the airport next and was greeted by two Spanish-speaking Warren Easton High School students. Harper landed at noon. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band played for the foreign heads of state.

Bush presented the President's Volunteer Service Award to Audrey Browder, a volunteer with the Central City Partnership, Holy Ghost Catholic Church and Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans.

After Bush meets with Harper, the Mexican and Canadian heads-of-state will also meet separately. Bush is expected to visit a meeting of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce at Gallier Hall on his way to dinner with the other leaders at a famous New Orleans restaurant.

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