This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The checklist started as soon as Mexican President Vicente Fox's breakfast was scheduled at the Rico Manufacturing and Catering warehouse.
Repair the concrete floor. Paint the orange and green restroom reserved for Fox. Rent tables and white tablecloths. And buy 250 eggs, 240 pounds of oranges and 75 pounds of beef tenderloin.
Jorge Fierro, the owner of the Salt Lake City business, said he's not nervous about the Wednesday event for Fox and some 100 guests because the president seems "pretty down to earth."
"I'm very confident we can pull it off nicely, and we will," said Fierro, a native of Mexico who moved to Utah 20 years ago. "I need to show what we Latinos, especially Mexicans, are doing in the United States."
Fox is scheduled to arrive Tuesday in Salt Lake City, the first stop of a three-state visit along with Washington and California. Mexicans living in Utah say they are anxiously waiting to hear what he has to say and maybe even get a glimpse of Fox - the first Mexican president to visit the Beehive State.
Mexicans here are excited, University of Utah professor Armando Solórzano said, because for the first time in decades, a Mexican president has valued those Mexicans working away from their homeland and contributing to their families and communities from afar.
Alma Armendariz, a 41-year-old permanent U.S. resident, moved from Mexico to Utah 11 years ago with her four children and late husband. She lives in Heber, but Mexico is still home. Her relatives are still there, and she tries to keep up with the country's news. She called Fox's visit to Utah amazing.
"He's our president. He's our representative," Armendariz said. "Even though we live here, we still love Mexico."
The population of Mexicans or Latinos of Mexican descent in Utah more than doubled from 1990 to 2000 - when there were some 136,400 of them, according to the U.S. census. Recent Mexican reports estimate that there are some 200,000 Mexicans in Utah and half of them are undocumented immigrants in the United States.
Former Gov. Mike Leavitt, a Republican, was likely the first Utah governor to meet with a Mexican president, Solórzano said. Leavitt met with Fox in Mexico City as part of a trade mission in February 2003. In July, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. traveled to Mexico City, met with Fox and business leaders, and invited Fox to visit Utah.
Juan Carlos Vazquez, a 34-year-old project coordinator at Utah State University, has dual citizenship in Mexico and the United States. He said it's important for him to see ties between Mexico and Utah, the two places he's a part of.
"It tells me that he's not just limited on what's happening in Utah," Vazquez said of Huntsman. "Him bringing President Fox here - it means a lot to me."
Fox is scheduled to visit Utah - a place that was Mexican territory from 1821 to 1848 - for 24 hours, arriving mid-Tuesday and departing mid-Wednesday.
Armendariz will be one of some 600 people, mostly Mexicans, who will listen to Fox speak at a Tuesday community meeting at West Valley City's Utah Cultural Celebration Center.
Unlike past presidents who only cared about Mexicans with money, Fox values people from various backgrounds, Armendariz said.
"He is a man of the pueblo," she said. "It shows he really cares about every Mexican - it doesn't matter where we live."
Solórzano, who studies Latinos in Utah, said former Mexican presidents often referred to Mexicans who left their homeland in search of a better life as deserters. As president for more than five years, Fox has been popular among Mexicans and tries to maintain ties with those no longer in the country, Solórzano said.
For example, Fox has a weekly radio program for those Mexicans living in the United States.
"President Fox completely changed the image of Mexican immigrants as friends of Mexico . . . as heroes," said Solórzano, who moved from Mexico to the United States to attend college in 1970. "The Mexicans see Fox as a friend, as a supporter and a defender of their rights in the United States."
Some Mexicans said they're glad Fox is building better ties with Utah and other states, but they had hoped Fox would have done more as president.
Rodolfo Lopez, a 40-year-old community center supervisor, said he's sure Fox will talk about trade and business during his trip, but he's not sure who will really benefit.
"I don't think he's doing it for the economy in Mexico," said Lopez, who moved to the United States 10 years ago. "He's doing it for his own personal business."
If he could question Fox about anything, Lopez said he'd ask about how Mexico could stop its citizens from coming to the United States and improving Mexico's quality of life by creating better-paying jobs, better housing and better roads.
"The big problem is not a big wall on the border or the Army there, but the big problem is the economy in Mexico," he said in regards to President Bush's plan to build fences and put 6,000 National Guard troops on the border. "Mexico is beautiful, but people have to leave family . . . because they cannot survive."
Still, others said Fox's visit is important to eliminate negative misconceptions by some Utahns that all Mexicans are poor, uneducated and come here to work as laborers.
Vazquez said he hopes Utahns see Fox as a leader, role model and businessman.
"It will bring a perspective that people haven't seen before," he said.
Tribune coverage of visit
* Monday: Visit not expected to disrupt traffic
* Tuesday: Immigration heats up U.S.-Mexican relations and Utah's economic ties to Mexico
* Wednesday: President meets with business leaders and community members
* Thursday: Fox talks with Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and addresses Utah Legislature