MEXICO CITY -- On his third and final day on Mexican soil,
President Clinton toured ancient pyramids, mingled in a small-town square and passionately proclaimed the wonders of free trade.
"Every day we use products that are dreamed up in one country, financed in another, manufactured in a third, with parts made in still other countries -- and then sold all over the world," Clinton said. "Like it or not, we are becoming more interdependent."
Clinton's speech, delivered to an invitation-only audience of several thousand dignitaries and business people at the National Auditorium here, capped a program that had all the trappings of a rally in support of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.
Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo introduced his American counterpart as the man who made NAFTA happen -- an observation that prompted applause.
The warm-up act was a pro-NAFTA film that lasted almost as long as Clinton's 25-minute talk. It featured Nobel laureates Robert J. Samuelson, an economist, and Octavio Paz, famed Mexico poet and writer, interspersed with dozens of workers and business executives on both sides of the border. All profusely praised NAFTA and closer U.S.-Mexico ties.
"President Clinton, we must unite our people, not divide them," said Mexican actress Salma Hayek.
Smiling aides
The film, produced by the Mexican government, left White House aides smiling. "Wouldn't it be nice to have your own Department of Propaganda?" one quipped.
But Clinton's own tone on NAFTA wasn't much different.
"Four years ago, together we led the fight for NAFTA," he said. "Many people in both our countries painted a dark picture of lost jobs and boarded-up factories should NAFTA prevail. Well, they were wrong. NAFTA is working -- working for you and working for the American people."
Clinton and Zedillo both proudly cited trade figures showing that in the three years since NAFTA was adopted, Mexico has closed in on Japan -- which has an economy 15 times as large -- as America's second leading trading partner.
Clinton also touched briefly on the two issues that have dominated the agenda here: drugs and immigration.
Taking care not to point fingers, Clinton nonetheless spoke bluntly. He termed illegal drugs the greatest "scourge" on Earth. VTC Echoing a refrain from the day before, he maintained that both U.S. demand for drugs and the ease with which traffickers operate in Mexico are to blame.
