By Jennifer Nagorka, KERA 90.1 commentator
Dallas, TX – It takes lots of work to plan the visit of a head of state. There are endless details. At which airport and terminal will his jet land? Who will greet him? How quickly can he be whisked downtown? Who sits at the head table at dinner? Does the guest of honor have food allergies? Food preferences? Who will set up platforms for the television news cameras? It's like planning a huge wedding, only with much heavier security.
So imagine the disappointment in Dallas Wednesday when Mexican president Vicente Fox canceled his trip to Texas.
President Fox was scheduled to visit Dallas August 26 and 27. Over the course of an 18-hour period, President Fox was supposed to attend a rally and then a 1,000-person dinner; meet privately with business leaders; and accept an award at a luncheon. His trip was to include stops in Houston, San Antonio, and a brief chat with President Bush at his Crawford ranch. All canceled.
But if the visit had to be canceled, at least it was because of an important issue. Texas executed a Mexican national Wednesday evening, despite President Fox's appeals to Governor Rick Perry and President Bush. Mexico does not have the death penalty. Mexican officials also felt that police violated international law by not telling the suspect he had the right to seek help from the Mexican consulate. To protest the execution, President Fox canceled his trip.
At that moment, a labor-intensive but fairly standard visit from a head of state became a news story with local, state, national and international implications.
Several local groups had spent weeks planning President Fox's visit. It would have generated national news coverage - and given a small economic and morale boost to a city struggling with budget woes. But Dallas is also where the executed prisoner committed his crime - gunning down a police officer - so it was a tricky place to visit.
If President Fox had been visiting a state without the death penalty, perhaps he would have gone ahead with his trip. But Texas executes more prisoners than any other state.
President Fox may have hoped that Texans George Bush and Rick Perry would give his pleas special attention. Mr. Bush emphasized his friendship with Mr. Fox when they were both governors. As president, Mr. Bush has stated that Mexico and the United States have a special relationship. Governor Perry has stressed good cross-border relations. But when President Fox requested this favor, his friends turned him down.
All three elected leaders had domestic constituencies to placate. Still, Mr. Fox had more at risk than the Americans. President Fox's decision to forgo the trip may hurt the chances of federal legislation he favors, such as loosening some controls along the Mexican border and regularizing some illegal immigrants. But after September 11th, those items had already dropped way down on the priority list. This incident will probably cause no lasting harm in Washington. President Bush even released a statement saying he still considers Mr. Fox a friend.
The only real losers are the cities left stranded at the altar. Does anybody have a spare president or prime minister we could borrow for a night?
Jennifer Nagorka is a writer based in Dallas.