US presidential candidate McCain in Mexico

Republican presidential candidate John McCain has met with Mexican President Felipe Calderon for talks on immigration and trade issues. Their talks also covered bilateral relations as well as a U.S.-sponsored effort to stem the flow of drugs and guns across the Mexico border.

The meeting took place Thursday in Mexico City after the Arizona senator toured the Basilica de Guadalupe, a major center of worship for Catholics in the Mexican capital. Senator McCain visited Mexico as part of a trip aimed at showcasing his foreign policy credentials. He also has been highlighting his support for free trade agreements.

Appearing before Mexico’s drug-fighting Federal Police, John McCain promised that as president he would quickly implement a U.S. aid package to give the officers more helicopters, technology and training.

Mr. McCain, visiting the federal force’s new command center, paid his condolences to the hundreds of officers who have died in the drug fight since President Felipe Calderón took office 19 months ago.

Those deaths, Mr. McCain said, “will not be in vain.”

Jeb Bush weighed in on the presidential race here this morning, when, not surprisingly, he predicted that Senator John McCain would win the White House. The president’s brother and former Republican governor of Florida was here on business and joined Mr. McCain for a tour of the Basilica of the Virginia of Guadalupe, Mexico’s holiest site.

“I think he’s going to win,'’ Mr. Bush told a few reporters who caught up with him at the basilica. “He just needs to be himself and not let Senator Obama redefine himself.'’

At the Basilica, McCain was greeted by Monsignor Diego Monroy Ponce, who later placed one hand on McCain’s forehead and another on his shoulder as he offered the expected Republican nominee a blessing. Cindy McCain stood next to her husband with her head bowed and her eyes closed.

El candidato republicano a la presidencia de EE.UU., John McCain, visitó hoy la basílica dedicada a la Virgen de Guadalupe en Ciudad de México, donde recorrió el recinto sagrado y recibió una bendición por parte del rector del templo, Diego Monroy.

Acompañado por su esposa Cindy y por el embajador de EE.UU. en México, Tony Garza, McCain llegó poco antes de las 08.00 hora local (13.00 GMT) al recinto y permaneció en él una hora y media sin hacer declaraciones a la prensa.

US Republican presidential hopeful John McCain arrived in Mexico Wednesday on the second stop of his short Latin America tour seeking to score points with the large Latino voting block back home.

With his previous stop in Colombia overshadowed by the dramatic rescue of 15 hostages of the leftist FARC guerillas, and amid talk of a shakeup in his campaign organization, McCain flew into the Mexican capital planning to meet President Filipe Calderon on Thursday.

McCain was expected to express his support for Calderon's battle against narcotics gangs and organized crime during the 24-hour stopover, in the wake of the US approval last week of the 1.6-billion-dollar, three-year package of anti-drug assistance to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean known as the Merida Initiative.

"Drug cartels have basically taken control of some towns on the Mexican border," McCain told ABC News Wednesday, speaking from the Colombian seaside city of Cartagena.

"There is clearly a continued threat of drugs pouring into the United States of America, which can harm us and our young people very badly."

A smiling Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, was greeted by U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza at Mexico City's international airport and left without making a statement.

Mexico remains a wedge issue for many American voters, including those living in key electoral states, such as Michigan and Ohio, where freer trade with Mexico is controversial.

"McCain is also walking a fine line, particularly with hard-line conservatives," Mr. Peschard-Sverdrup said. "The imagery in Mexico would be great if the United States was experiencing a booming economy. But people want to know, what will you do for me here in the United States, and so this trip doesn't answer that question."