01 October 2001Mexico Committed to Helping U.S. Fight Terrorism, Says Fox
(Mexico will prevent its territory from being used by terrorists) (440) Washington -- Mexican President Vicente Fox says his country is "totally committed" to supporting the United States in the fight against terrorism. Interviewed September 28 on the Cable News Network (CNN) program "Larry King Live," Fox said Mexico is also committed to working with the Organization of American States to support regional efforts against terrorism. Fox said Mexico has not faced any terrorism problems recently, but underlined that "anybody can suffer [this] kind of attack." He said his country is strengthening mechanisms related to migration to ensure that terrorists cannot enter the United States through Mexico. Because Mexico does not have a strong army, the use of military force "is not the way we contribute," Fox said. "I think that we have much better means and ways to participate and contribute with our intelligence and information, with our actions against organized crime and against terrorism." He stressed that Mexican agencies cooperate extensively with the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) and other U.S. agencies along the Mexico-U.S. border. Mexico and the United States, Fox indicated, are also working together to establish mechanisms for monitoring bank accounts or money transfers that could be related to terrorism. Fox said the terrorist attacks against the United States had an immediate negative effect on tourism in Mexico. Cancun, the country's largest tourist resort, experienced a drop of about 30 percent in tourism in the first week following the September 11 attacks. "But it's coming back, it's recuperating, slowly, but it's recuperating. And fortunately, up to now, for the month of October, we don't have yet one single cancellation," Fox said. "So we still expect that people will come back to ride planes, that people will come back to work. And I think that's one of the best contributions that both the American people and Mexicans can [make] to overcome this tragedy, in the sense of economic terms." Fox said he expects U.S.-Mexico discussions on providing legal status to undocumented Mexicans in the United States to continue. President Bush has assured him that the current focus on terrorism will not affect bilateral issues, Fox said. "Soon we'll be coming back to discuss the projects that we are developing together on this alliance for prosperity that we're working [on] with the United States. So I think that we will come back to normality on these issues." (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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