MEXICO CITY (AFP) — 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 and to visit the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the world-famous shrine for Mexican Catholics.
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."
McCain, in a tough battle against Democrat Barack Obama to win the White House in the November 4 election, arrived in Colombia Tuesday afternoon, hoping to use the trip to score points over Obama in the arenas of trade and foreign policy.
He was accompanied by his wife Cindy McCain, independent Senator Joseph Lieberman and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.
The Arizona senator's itinerary seemed designed to appeal to Hispanic television stations in the United States, serving the Latino voting bloc which is a growing force in key western battleground states.
"With this visit, McCain is recognizing Colombia as a top US ally," campaign spokesman Hessy Fernandez told reporters earlier.
According to a Gallup poll published Wednesday, 29 percent of Latino voters in the United States expressed support for McCain, while 59 percent backed Obama.
McCain's trip is the latest in a flurry of foreign forays by the presidential rivals, designed to burnish leadership credentials on the world stage, and to flesh out dueling foreign policy visions.
McCain traveled to the Middle East and Europe after clinching the Republican nomination earlier this year, and has just returned from Canada.
Obama is expected to visit Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as Britain, France, Germany, Israel and Jordan in coming weeks.
Meanwhile on Wednesday McCain shook up his campaign brain trust, putting his senior advisor Steve Schmidt, a hard-hitting political operative, in charge of day-to-day operations, amid reports of some Republican disquiet about his White House bid.
Existing campaign manager Rick Davis will take on a broader role, overseeing tasks such as the selection of a vice presidential running mate for McCain and the planning of the Republican national convention in September.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
