Davis Arrives in Mexico to Start Mending Fences

Gov. Gray Davis arrived here Monday evening to announce as loudly as he can that there is a new governor in California, one who wants to make the state’s relationship with Mexico a top priority.

“For too long, California and Mexico have pointed fingers at one another, held one another accountable and assessed blame,” Davis said in a news conference shortly after his arrival. “I think it is time for a new compact between my great state and the great people of the Republic of Mexico.

“The days of shouting and finger-pointing are over. We are ready and eager to build the future together--juntos--together.”

Davis, whose three-day Mexico visit is his first official venture outside California since he was sworn in barely four weeks ago, isn’t as well known here as his predecessor, Pete Wilson. Many shopkeepers, cabdrivers and businessmen can identify the former California governor.

He is the one who took away people’s rights, said cabdriver Marcelio Islas. He provoked anger from Mexico, said a wine exporter. He had some good reasons to complain about “an invasion” of illegal immigrants, said Guadalupe Canaval, a clothing store manager.

“But you also have to be human about it,” she said.

Davis reminded more than two dozen reporters from the United States and Mexico gathered for his arrival that he is quickly fulfilling a campaign promise made last year.

“I said I would come to Mexico and I am here,” Davis said, repeating the sentence in sputtering Spanish.

Wearing a lapel pin with the U.S. and Mexican flags, he was flanked by his wife, Sharon, and Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles).

Villaraigosa noted the disparity between Mexico’s trade with California and its trade with Texas. California’s economy is double that of Texas, but Texas has nearly triple the exports to Mexico, Villaraigosa said.

“Now more than ever, we need this spirit of cooperation,” he said.

Political observers have cited the disparity as evidence that California has suffered economically from the 1994 controversy over Proposition 187, the ballot measure Wilson promoted to block government benefits for illegal immigrants. The political campaign helped Wilson win reelection, but it soured the state’s relations with Mexico.

State officials said, however, that many of the Texas exports are made in other states and merely cross the border in Texas.

Davis is traveling with a delegation of more than two dozen California business, academic and political leaders.

The delegation is scheduled to meet today with President Ernesto Zedillo. First, Davis and Zedillo plan to share a private breakfast with their spouses.

Davis said he hopes to announce new policy agreements before he returns to Sacramento on Wednesday.

“I believe we may have an announcement or two to make by the end of the trip on tangible progress,” he said. “But the real purpose of this trip is to set a new tone, develop a new spirit of cooperation and develop a sense of mutual respect between our peoples.”

On Monday evening, Davis met with U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Davidow and more than two dozen Mexican officials.

Davis is meeting with business leaders here as well. He was to meet Monday evening with Carlos Slim, a communications magnate who is the richest man in Mexico.

The governor said he will appoint a liaison between his office and Mexico’s federal government within two weeks. He said Texas and Arizona have similar positions.

Zedillo’s office underscored the value it places on Davis’ visit in a statement issued in anticipation of the trip. The statement noted that California’s $1-trillion economy is bigger than Mexico’s and Canada’s combined.

“One must underline the importance of California as the No. 1 state economy in the United States,” the statement said. “For Mexico, California holds particular importance because a high percentage of the Mexican migrants to the U.S. live there.”