Facing Terror--and Congress

A car bomb that killed nine in Lima, Peru, Wednesday was not a warm advance welcome for President Bush. Wisely, though, the president sees his mission to that South American nation, Mexico and El Salvador this weekend as too important to be thwarted by terrorists. Too bad Congress has yet to grasp the importance of Latin American relations.

“You bet I’m going,” Bush told reporters before leaving on a trip to reaffirm the United States’ commitment to such matters as free trade and the fight against drug trafficking, a whirlwind tour that begins in Mexico. There he is expected to sign an agreement to tighten security along the southern border while preventing delays for people trying to move legal products between the nations.

The pact was not easily agreed upon, but Mexico’s leaders went out of their way to make it happen. It would have been nice if, to reciprocate, Bush had brought with him the news that thousands of Mexicans who entered the U.S. illegally or overstayed their visas could remain in this country while they completed paperwork to gain legal residency. Although the House did its part to give the president what he had hoped would be a gift to his Mexican hosts, Sen. Robert C. Byrd. (D- W. Va.) delayed the bill in the Senate.

Bush’s second stop will come Saturday when he becomes the first incumbent American president to set foot in Peru. Speaking from the heart of the country, in Lima, the capital, the president will recognize the Peruvian people’s courageous struggle to restore democratic rule after years of authoritarian rule and rigged elections. While grateful for the American nod, what Peruvians really want is more U.S. help to battle increasingly violent drug traffickers who have moved into the northern part of the country, where they are planting opium poppies that will eventually reach the U.S. as heroin.

Finally, on Sunday, Bush will meet in San Salvador with the heads of five Central American nations. The administration says this will be the start of talks that could lead to a free trade accord with the nations of the Central American isthmus. But to extend the North American Free Trade Agreement to that region, Bush needs congressional approval of “fast-track” authority. That would allow him to make deals with foreign nations, while limiting Congress’ role to approving or rejecting--but not modifying--the agreements.