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.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom