Pubdate: Thu, 21 Mar 2002 Source: Reuters (Wire) Copyright: 2002 Reuters Limited Author: Steve Holland BUSH OFFERS BORDER SECURITY PLAN FOR U.S.-MEXICO EL PASO, Texas (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites), embarking on a four-day swing through Latin America, stopped at the U.S.-Mexican border on Thursday to announce a security plan to speed traffic and goods across the world's busiest border and "weed out" terrorists. In this dusty, sun-parched town, Bush went to a U.S. Customs cargo inspection facility at the "Bridge of the Americas" crossing to watch a truck being inspected by an X-ray machine to determine its contents -- an example of how cross-border traffic can be inspected quickly. "We want the legal commerce, the people who travel back and forth on a daily basis, the brothers and sisters on both sides of the border, the relatives that have been coming back and forth for years to be able to do so in an efficient and easy way," Bush told a rally at the El Paso airport. On the other hand, he said, "We want to use our technology to make sure that we weed out those who we don't want in our country, the terrorists, the coyotes, the smugglers, those who prey on innocent life." "Coyotes" is the slang word for those who smuggle undocumented aliens across the border. U.S. officials see the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) border with Mexico, the world's busiest, as a weak link in homeland defenses because of the heavy flow of illegal drugs and immigrants. Bush got an up-close look at the turbulent nature of the border. Wearing a Customs hat, he went inside a tour bus seized by Customs agents because it had secret compartments containing 1,500 pounds of cocaine and a large cache of marijuana. PERU TRIP STILL ON He also watched a sniffer dog go over a tanker truck and was shown by agents a hand sensor and small hammer used to measure the density of a vehicle in the search for secret compartments. The border crossing itself was jammed with cars, as a large Mexican flag waved in the breeze. Bush, who is on his way to Mexico, Peru and El Salvador, said he would go ahead with his 17-hour visit to the Peruvian capital Lima despite a car bomb outside the U.S. embassy on Wednesday night that killed nine people. He is to arrive there on Saturday. "You bet, I'm going," Bush told reporters before he left the White House. "I'm sure (Peruvian) President (Alejandro) Toledo will do everything he can to make Lima safe for our trip." U.S. intelligence agencies suspect the leftist Shining Path guerrilla group was responsible. Bush was flying to Monterrey, Mexico, later to attend a U.N. development conference. He is due to hold a joint meeting with Mexican President Vicente Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien shortly after arriving and is expected to thank them for their support in the war on terrorism. With hundreds of military personnel from nearby Fort Bliss among the crowd at El Paso airport, Bush used tough rhetoric to repeat his vow to stop terrorists, citing a suicide bombing in Israel and the car bomb in Peru as examples. "Now, this is a dangerous world. Too many people are losing their lives to murderers. History has called us into action. We cannot let the terrorists take over freedom-loving societies, and we will not," he said to cheers. 'SMART CARDS' AT BORDERS? Bush said $5 billion out of a $27 billion emergency funding request he proposed to Congress would be spent on airport and border security to keep out those who might try to launch attacks like those on Sept. 11. The White House said plans to speed legal traffic among NAFTA partners include introducing "smart cards" for trusted cross-border commuters and inspecting and sealing cargo at the point of origin so it does not need to be inspected. The United States and Canada have already agreed to tighten security by developing permanent resident cards and a joint immigration database. U.S. officials fear the 5,500-mile (8,900-km) border with Canada could also be exploited by Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, accused of masterminding the attacks on America. The task is monumental: screening would-be attackers without slowing down the roughly 500 million people, 11.2 million trucks and 2.2 million rail cars that cross into the country each year. In Monterrey, Bush planned to promote his three-year, $10 billion promise to boost aid to poor countries in the face of criticism that Washington's foreign aid spending was too little. Grants would be restricted to countries that root out corruption Bush was expected to tell leaders increased aid could help ease the despair that fuels Islamic militancy. On Sunday, Bush will discuss trade and migration with leaders of Central American countries -- Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama -- in San Salvador before returning to Washington. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom