US praise Mexican election

The US government applaud a 'free and fair' election

By Philippa Thomas in Washington

The United States Government has welcomed Mexico's election results as a triumph for democracy.

The White House says that President Bill Clinton is looking forward to working with the new Mexican president-elect, Vicente Fox.

The US Government has moved quickly to praise the Mexican people for the way in which these critical elections were held.

A State Department official described the elections as a triumph for the democratic process and congratulated President Elect Vicente Fox on his impressive showing.

It also paid tribute to Mexico's Federal Electoral Institute for what it called the magnificent job done in running a free and fair election.

And it credited the incumbent President Ernesto Zedillo for what was termed his enormous contribution to building Mexican democracy.

Observers happy

International election observers have also pronounced themselves satisfied with Sunday's election process.

Former US President Jimmy Carter described the vote as 'almost perfect' and praised the maturity of the Mexican electorate in making such a peaceful transition from 71 years of virtual one-party rule.

The United States now hopes to build on the current strong bilateral relationship, working closely with the new administration on three crucial policy areas of trade, migration and drugs.