US President George W. Bush's plan to arrange a temporary guest-worker programme for Mexican migrants was dismissed last night by the Mexican foreign minister.
"Any programme that's temporary is, up to a point, meaningless," Mr Jorge Castaneda told the Los Angeles Times.
He said it was unreasonable to expect Mexicans working in the United States to return home after the expiration of their contracts without giving them the possibility to return.
"It doesn't make any sense," Mr Castaneda said. "If that's what is proposed, we would say 'no'".
The foreign minister said Mexico favoured a guest-worker programme for Mexicans who are not yet in the United States but would like to come there.
He indicated the issue of the estimated three to four million illegal Mexican immigrants who are already in the United States should be resolved separately.
The comments seem to dampen efforts to solve the problems of undocumented Mexicans that would be palatable to the Mexican government and a broad spectrum of US politicians who opppose any legalisation of the undocumented Mexicans.
US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell and Attorney General Mr John Ashcroft met with Castaneda and other Mexican officials last week in a bid to map out the road to resolving the problem.
AFP