The Foreign Service Journal, April 2006

A P R I L 2 0 0 6 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 39 o matter who is elected president of Mexico on July 2, 2006, succeeding Vicente Fox (who is constitutionally limited to one six-year term), the country’s relationship with the United States won’t enjoy the auspicious beginning marked by the elections of Presidents Fox and George W. Bush in 2000. That is not necessar- ily bad, however. The high expectations of six years ago about what personal affinities could accomplish in reconciling national agendas F O C U S O N L A T I N A M E R I C A T HE U.S. AND M EXICO : W HAT ’ S N EXT ? N W HOEVER HE IS , THE NEXT M EXICAN PRESIDENT WILL HAVE A KEEN APPRECIATION OF THE COMPLEXITY OF MANAGING THE BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP . B Y D EBORAH L. R INER Elizabeth Lada