Immigration, drug-trafficking and a proposed hemispheric free trade pact will be the main issues when President Vicente Fox of Mexico meets President Bush today in Guanajuato State, 200 miles north-west of Mexico City.
The one-day presidential summit - Mr Bush's first official visit abroad - will take place on Mr Fox's ranch in San Cristobal, a dusty, impoverished village.
The Bush-Fox summit, described as "a meeting of two cowboys", heralds a new high point in US-Mexico relations, once marked by suspicion and hostility, as Mexico nursed its wounded pride, losing California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas in a bitter 19th century conflict.
Last month, Mexico's Supreme Court approved an extradition pact which permits its citizens to be sent to the US for trial. The US Congress responded by approving "fast-track" legislation by which Mexico will automatically receive US certification for its efforts to combat illicit drugs for two years.
"This meeting will establish the tone of our relationship with the US for years to come," Mexico's Foreign Ministry said.
Since the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993, Mexico has sent 85 per cent of its exports northwards, worth $200 billion last year. Mr Bush is anxious to spread the NAFTA zone throughout the Americas.
Mr Fox will present Mr Bush with an amnesty proposal for undocumented Mexican citizens. An estimated 8.5 million Mexicans live in the US.
The streets of San Cristobal received a thorough facelift in recent weeks. Mr Fox's family is the main employer in the village, paying farm labourers $50 per week. The village has no healthcare facilities, one-third of the people have no access to electricity and illiteracy runs to 16 per cent.
The proximity of Mr Fox's home state to the US border has led 2.5 million people from Guanajuato state to seek their fortune across the border, of which an estimated half-million are clandestino, or working without legal papers. Nineteen local people died attempting to cross the border last year.