http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... rmaps.html

Mexico has misgivings over Pentagon map plan

Chris Hawley
Republic Mexico City Bureau
Jul. 15, 2006 12:00 AM


MEXICO CITY - Mexico is warning National Guard troops to toe the line, literally, as they begin surveying the U.S.-Mexican border in an attempt to create more precise maps.

A Foreign Ministry official said Friday that Mexico is uncomfortable with the Pentagon's plans to use a mapmaking unit from the Alabama National Guard to chart the border, noting that there is a binational committee that has sole authority over the border and its markers.

"We have expressed to the United States government our worry that the National Guard may enter into some matters over which it does not have authority," said Juan Bosco Martí, the Foreign Ministry's director-general for North American affairs.

"If some case were to arise in which the National Guard tried to delineate the border zone, then there would be total opposition by the Mexican government."

The mapping plan, which was first reported by The Arizona Republic on Thursday, is part of President Bush's deployment of 6,000 National Guard troops to help secure the border.

The Pentagon says its mapping techniques could help Border Patrol agents better navigate the line, which is poorly marked in some areas.

But Martí said most Mexican and U.S. border agents don't rely on maps: They use Global Positioning System devices and their knowledge of the terrain to avoid crossing the border.

The current border was set by a series of nine treaties from 1848 to 1970, and it is enforced by the International Boundary and Water Commission, which includes representatives from both countries.

The U.S. troops are free to map their side of the border line, but they must not try to change it, Martí said.

"The border line is the border line, and it will stay where it is forever," he said.

In some places, the only visible sign of the border is a series of obelisk-shaped markers. Those border markers can be placed only by the International Boundary and Water Commission.

In March, the two countries asked the commission to improve the marker system. Mexican members of the commission presented a proposal for modernizing the markers two weeks ago, and the U.S. side is expected to do the same within a month, Martí said.



Reach the reporter at chris.hawley@arizonarepublic.com.