Mexico vote gives Bush new "amigo" in Latin America

MEXICO CITY, Sep 7 (Reuters) Felipe Calderon's election victory in Mexico gives the US government a much-needed conservative ally in Latin America, where it has lost influence in recent years as a string of leftist leaders took power.

For months, it seemed that Washington would have to work with a combative Mexican leader in Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a fiery leftist who led opinion polls and promised to end two decades of U.S.-backed economic reforms.

But Calderon won a narrow victory and Mexico's electoral court named him president-elect on Tuesday, throwing out Lopez Obrador's accusations of massive fraud.

Like outgoing President Vicente Fox, Calderon will be a counterweight to leftists in countries like Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil and Argentina who are challenging US interests.

Calderon said he would be an active regional player and hoped to tour Latin America before taking office on Dec 1.

US President George W Bush telephoned to congratulate him yesterday, and the two also discussed meeting soon.

''There is no country more important to the future well-being of Mexico and Mexicans than the United States,'' Calderon's foreign policy advisor Arturo Sarukhane said.

Calderon said he would keep pushing for an immigration accord with the United States which Fox failed to achieve. The two countries must work together on security, immigration and drug smuggling along their 2,000-mile (3,200-km) border.

The Bush administration was always seen as preferring Calderon, and even more so since Lopez Obrador refused to accept defeat in the July 2 vote, shutting down central Mexico City with protests for weeks.

''There's no question that they (US officials) are relieved, especially after seeing Lopez Obrador's post-election conduct,'' said Armand Peschard-Sverdrup at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington.

With a bookish upbringing and stilted English, Calderon may find it harder to build a personal friendship with Bush than Fox, a rancher and former Coca-Cola executive with a taste for cowboy boots and straight talking.

But Calderon is a committed conservative and will likely stand alongside Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, a staunch US ally, as well as rightist leaders in Central America, on major regional issues.

REUTERS DH PM0628