The 35th annual Interparliamentary Conference held Friday, May 3 in Zacatecas, Mexico discussed important issues affecting both nations, including Mexico's economic recovery, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), U.S. immigration reforms, and the Mexican limit on U.S. border retail purchases. The United States Congress created this annual forum for the legislators of both nations in 1960.
The Interparliamentary forum consists of 24 members from both Mexico and the U.S. The U.S. delegation was lead by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, Representative Jim Kolbe, R-Arizona, and Representative Kiki de la Garza, D-Mission, Texas.
The meeting expanded on May 5 when U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher traveled to Mexico City with Attorney General Janet Reno, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol Browner, Secretary of Transportation Federico Pena, Secretary of Education Richard Riley and National Drug Control Director Barry McCaffrey and eight other Cabinet members. This group represents the largest contingent of U.S. Cabinet members ever to visit Mexico. White House Counselor Mack McLarty and several undersecretaries were also in attendance.
The delegation signed 11 minor agreements concerned with cross-border issues such as investment, tourism, the environment, human rights, and trade. The details of the agreements were worked out by subordinates in the weeks prior to the delegation's arrival.
Immigration became a central issue after a California news crew videotaped Riverside sheriff's deputies beating illegal Mexican immigrants. In reference to the incident, Mexican Foreign Minister Jose Angel Gurria warned that Mexico is "deeply concerned by the emergence of trends that could jeopardize our relations and lead us down the road to confrontation and complaint." Citing recent mistreatment of illegal immigrants in California, the Mexican government sought "human rights guarantees" from the Clinton administration to protect its citizens, whether legal or illegal, in the U.S. Gurria later relaxed his stance while talking on a Mexican national radio show. He said, Mexico doesn't "want this meeting to dwell on the themes of drugs and border incidents because that is not, at bottom, what our relationship is about." The negotiations resulted in a four page human rights agreement declaring the rights of Mexican citizens in the United States and U.S. citizens in Mexico. The negotiators also reached an agreement on enviromental issues such as border air quality.
This agreement signed by Christopher and Gurria strengthened air pollution co-operation between the two countries. As previously reported by Frontera, the agreement recognizes that El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua share a common air-shed. In addition, the agreement created a bi-national task force and allocated resources to deal with the two cities' air pollution problem.
Nevertheless, critics claim these meetings were nothing more than a spring break in Mexico for the politicians with nothing substantive being accomplished. Christopher disagreed saying that the U.S. and Mexico have now "forged the closest partnership in our history" as a result of the 11 agreements. Both Christopher and Gurria called the agreements "tangible proof that relations between the two nations, long characterized by suspicion and mistrust, are better and more positive than ever." Only time will tell if the implemented agreements create positive, substantive change.