WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush pledged to work to cement ties with Mexico,
                  "putting old fears and quarrels behind us," as he and Democrats courted Hispanic
                  Americans by honoring a popular Mexican holiday.

                  "The history of Mexican-American relations has had its troubled moments, but
                  today our peoples enrich each other in trade and culture and family ties," Bush
                  said in his weekly radio address Saturday.

                  He recorded the address in both English and Spanish, beginning what the White
                  House said would be a new weekly practice of radio addresses in both
                  languages.

                  Democrats responded with their own Cinco de Mayo (Fifth of May) radio
                  address. House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri said his party
                  would produce one each week, featuring various lawmakers.

                  Cinco de Mayo commemorates an 1862 Mexican victory over the French army
                  at the Battle of Puebla. Bush opened his radio address by offering "a special
                  greeting to everyone celebrating Cinco de Mayo. This day marks the proud
                  moment when Mexican soldiers threw back an invading army ..."

                  It comes a day after Bush celebrated the holiday a day early with a "fiesta" on the
                  South Lawn, with mariachi music and folk dancers. "For a little while, it was just
                  like being in Texas again," the president said.

                  He said he would work to steadily improve ties with Mexico. The first foreign
                  leader he met with was Mexican President Vicente Fox, who also is to be
                  honored at his first state dinner, in early September.

                  "I consider him a good friend," Bush said in the radio address. "We are
                  committed to working together in common purpose, for the good of both
                  countries. Whether the issue is free trade or energy production, environmental
                  protection or the control of illegal drugs, our interests are often the same."

                  As to overall relations with Mexico, Bush said, "In the United States, I'm happy
                  to say, we're putting old fears and quarrels behind us."

                  Bush has made a concerted effort to attract Hispanic voters, both during the
                  campaign and as president. He has met with Fox three times already, and his first
                  multinational meeting was last month's Summit of the Americas in Quebec,
                  Canada, where he said establishment of a free trade zone from the Arctic to
                  Argentine would be a top priority.

                  The nation's Hispanic population jumped nearly 60 percent during the last
                  decade, according to 2000 census figures, overtaking blacks as the nation's
                  leading minority group. Hispanics will be a crucial voting block in the 2004
                  presidential election. Despite Bush's courtship, during the past campaign
                  Hispanics voted Democratic by a 2-1 margin.

                  The Spanish version of both the Bush address and the Gephardt-Reyes one was
                  being by Radio Unica, a Miami-based radio station network with affiliates
                  nationwide.

                  Erick Smith, a Gephardt spokesman, said Reyes spoke in Spanish and Gephardt
                  spoke in English. But during Gephardt's part, the sound is lowered and a
                  translator's voice is heard with the Spanish version, he said.

                  Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.