The Foreign Service Journal, March 2003

M A R C H 2 0 0 3 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 19 F O C U S O N P O W E L L n one of their last meetings, in November of last year, Colin Powell and Jorge Castaneda bantered easily and publicly while seriously discussing one of the thorniest issues in the modern U.S.-Mexico relationship. “Water, water, water...” said Powell. “Agua, agua, agua...” answered Castaneda. Both were referring to a Mexican failure to comply with water delivery commitments, an issue that had become political fodder for local politicians on both sides of the border. Secretary Powell and Secretary of Foreign Relations Castaneda were aware of the political ramifi- cations, but also understood that both sides of the Rio Bravo region share an ecosystem, and that both the Mexican and American sides had shared the effects of the recent drought. Castaneda and Powell were able to diffuse the problem. Their interaction showed how far they had come in an occasionally uneasy personal relationship, and how far these two countries, with a historical mistrust of each other, had progressed. But it also reflected Powell’s and Castaneda’s own limitations and constraints. For Secretary Powell, the same difficulties he faces in trying to set “moderate” policies in a hawkish administration hinder or even impede him from taking a leading role in bilateral relations. For Castaneda, attempting to honor his government’s priority commit- ment to upgrading the Mexico- U.S. bilateral tie in the face of shifting U.S. foreign policy preoc- cupations was a frustration and, in the end, one of the main reasons for his resignation. Prickly But Pragmatic “That relationship [between Secretary of State Powell and Secretary of Foreign Relations Castaneda] was an asset, both in times of collaboration as well as in moments of disagreement,” a source close to Castaneda has been quoted as saying. “There has never been a relation so close between a secretary of State and a secretary of foreign relations,” he added. At the same time, some U.S. sources claim that the relation- ship between Powell and Castaneda was not as good as it appeared, and that sometimes the secretary answered Castaneda’s calls only “reluctantly.” Perhaps both claims are true, accurately reflecting the complexity of the U.S.-Mexico relationship. But, as Armand Peschard- Sverdrup, an expert in U.S.- Mexico relations at the Center for Strategic International Studies in Washington, points out: “Whatever their relationship was, like their governments, they real- ized that they did not and do not have any choice but to have good relations at their level.” The U.S.- Mexico relationship is vitally important to both nations eco- nomically as well as culturally. For the U.S., the 2000-mile bor- der is an important security con- cern. More than 80 percent of Mexico’s exports — or one quar- ter of the country’s GDP — go to the U.S., and Mexico is America’s I F ROM H IGH H OPES TO D ISENCHANTMENT P LANS TO UPGRADE U.S.-M EXICO RELATIONS CRUMBLED WITH THE T WIN T OWERS . S ECRETARY P OWELL HAS HAD TO MANAGE THE FALLOUT . B Y J OSE C ARRENO