Mexico Seeks US Withdrawal to pre-1848
Borders
By Hidalgo
Riviera
BSNN.net - April 30,
2002
;) |
Above: This map shows how the
boundaries would change under a new Mexican proposal that seeks to have
the US withdraw to pre-1848 borders. |
WASHINGTON
(BSNN Headline News)- Mexican
President Vicente Fox yesterday presented President Bush with a stunning
proposal aimed at prolonging "peaceful relations" between the US and Mexico.
The 1-point proposal, which Fox handed Bush during their recent session at a
Washington DC Chi Chi's, is intended to be a comprehensive, long-term
resolution of the many problems facing the two nations. The Mexican solution
calls for a US withdrawal to pre-1848 borders.
White House spokesman Hari
Flascher said that President Bush considered the Mexican proposal "helpful and
constructive."
"There was a lot of overlap
with the president's own ideas," Flascher said. "Including the idea of giving
California and its 54 electoral votes, or Arizona and its gray-haired Senator,
back to the country that rightfully owns them."
Another positive aspect of the
Mexican proposal from the Bush Administration's point of view is the
elimination of the issue of amnesty for illegal Mexican immigrants.
"Let's face it," Flascher
conceded. "Most of the illegal Mexicans in this country reside in areas the US
conquered illegitimately anyway."
One potential trouble spot is
the US withdrawal from the Republic of Texas. The Bush Ranch is located in
Crawdad, Texas, and the president loves it very much. But the administration's
willingness to leave the door open for discussion of the future of Texas was a
reflection of its eagerness to portray the president as a uniter not a
divider.
"We both came to agreement on
the vision for the future of our two nations," Bush said. "The intention of
the meeting was to see whether we could achieve a common agreement on how to
get all these illegal Mexicans-and
John McCain-out of the country without angering Hispanic-American
voters and Chris Matthews."
"On some points," Bush added,
"we have reached agreement, like returning California and Arizona to Mexico,
while on others, like what to do with the Crawdad Ranch, we have not yet
reached agreement. But we are working hard on having itagreement, I mean."
But President Bush, while
hailing the Mexican plan as positive, said that a complete return to pre-1848
borders would "destroy the United States."
Meanwhile, the Mexican
Government has insisted that its state should include all the territory "ceded
under duress" in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the
Mexican-American war.
"We view the existing boundary
between the US and Mexico not so much as a border, but as a cease-fire line,"
President Fox explained.
The Bush Administration
disagrees, saying that US security needs require a presence in strategic parts
of the Southwest and that some of the American settlements built during the
154 years of occupation should be incorporated into the United States. As it
stands now, the Bush Administration is prepared to return all of California
and Arizona, and major portions of New Mexico and Texas, but insists that
Colorado, Utah and Nevada are "not open for discussion."
An overnight MSNBC/Rasmussen/Reuters/Fox News/ Wallstreet Journal/BSNN.net
poll suggests that most Americans favor returning all or
part of the Southwest to Mexico if it would end the illegal alien problem. And
when asked whether they would be willing to live in a Mexican state,
only 25% of Californians polled said no. 15% percent of Californians said they
would not continue living in California if it were returned to Mexico, while
60% of Californians think they already are living in Mexico.
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