Bush, Fox Settle Short-Term Visa Spat (some details of visit)

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Fox stayed about 20 hours. The two took a long walk, and Bush gave Fox what he calls a "windshield tour" of the ranch -- that is, from inside the white Ford pickup truck the Secret Service lets Bush drive on his 1,600-acre ranch. The presidents, along with first lady Laura Bush and Fox's wife, Marta Sahagun, dined Friday night on bass that Bush said he caught in a pond on the property.

The meeting was aimed at repairing the rocky relations produced by Fox's decision to oppose the war in Iraq. Some members of Bush's war cabinet remain bitter about Fox's stance, but Bush was eager to publicly put the disagreement behind them as he prepares election-year appeals to Hispanics, the nation's fastest-growing voting bloc.

Bush, stung by Republican opposition to the immigration proposal he made in January, allowed Fox to announce the planned change in entry requirements for visitors from Mexico who carry visas good for three days at a time.

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Democrats sought to portray the summit as an expensive exercise in pandering. Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), Bush's expected opponent, said in a statement, "Latinos can tell it's an election year because George W. Bush is finally paying attention to them. . . . Latinos and Latin America will not be used or regarded as an afterthought in my administration."

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D), who is often mentioned as a possible vice presidential choice for Kerry, said in a telephone interview that the agreement about short-term visas is "just reversing what was a bad decision, so it is not a gain."

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36776-2004Mar6.html