ASSOCIATED PRESS

6:21 p.m. August 12, 2005

MEXICO CITY – The Mexican government criticized New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's decision Friday to declare states of emergency in four border counties due to crime and migration, a move that free up funds to fence an area near the border.
Mexico said the declarations "don't jibe with the spirit of cooperation and understanding" and ordered its consul in Albuquerque to meet with New Mexico officials "to promote appropriate actions by the officials of both countries."

Richardson cited "violence directed at law enforcement, damage to property and livestock, increased evidence of drug smuggling and an increase in the number of undocumented immigrants" in declaring the emergency.

He said the border security situation "constitutes an emergency condition with potentially catastrophic consequences."

Mexico has long opposed any increased border fencing, and is also sensitive to U.S. criticism about rising violence in Nuevo Laredo, to the east on the Texas border.

"The Mexican government considers that some of the New Mexico government's statements are generalizations which don't jibe with the spirit of cooperation and understanding needed to address border problems," Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said in a press statement.

Richardson's executive order, makes US$750,000 immediately available to Dona Ana, Luna, Grant and Hidalgo counties, along with a pledge of an additional US$1 million.

The money will aid state and area law enforcement efforts, fund a field office for the state Office of Homeland Security and help build a fence to protect a Columbus-area livestock yard where a number of cattle have been killed or stolen.

The funds will finance an 11-foot, razor wire-topped security fence around the stockyards. It will replace a shorter, barbed-wire fence that Richardson said "is so full of holes and gaps that trucks and people can cross with no control."

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