http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3787937

It also appears he is going to Seattle.

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-25425-seattle.html

Article Last Updated: 5/05/2006 08:01 AM


Officials await word on a Utah visit by Vicente Fox

Tribune Staff
and Wire Services

Salt Lake Tribune

Mexican President Vicente Fox may visit Utah this month.

The visit must be approved by Mexico's Senate, but a spokesman for Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. says he is "anticipating the confirmation soon."

Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire's office says Fox's confirmation of a Washington visit also is expected soon.

It would be Fox's first trip to Utah and Washington, and the first time state officials in both states can recall any Mexican president visiting the States. He's coming at the invitation of both governors.

"The Governor's Office hasn't received official confirmation," Huntsman spokesman, Mike Mower, said late Thursday. But a visit has been anticipated, he added.

Fox's visit to Utah would be a follow-up to Huntsman's 30-minute meeting with the president in Mexico City in July. At the time, Huntsman said Fox accepted an invitation to come to Utah this year.

If Fox visits Utah, he and Huntsman likely will talk trade, education, culture and immigration, Mower said.

Though Fox will leave office this year because of term limits, it is important for Huntsman to meet with the president, Mower said. Fox, 63, was elected in 2000.

Latinos make up some 11 percent of Utah's population. Of the more than 253,000 Latinos here, roughly 70 percent are of Mexican descent, the U.S. census shows. Fox is expected to visit California, too.

In Washington, Fox is expected to visit May 24 to meet the state's governor, business leaders and Latino community members.

Trade and immigration will be on the agenda.

Gregoire, the state's governor, said it's a coincidence that Fox's visit comes when immigration is dominating the news, but she expects him to address the topic.

Fox has advocated an immigration accord that would grant some form of legal status to many of the Mexicans now in the U.S. illegally. He also has said that, at the least, he would like to see a guest-worker program in place before he leaves office.

Details of his schedule were sketchy Tuesday, but in addition to talks about immigration, officials expect Fox to discuss trade issues with Gregoire, to go to a Washington State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce luncheon and to meet members of the local Latino community.