DRUG-FIGHTING COOPERATION UP TO MEXICO, US DECLARES

WASHINGTON - The State Department said Wednesday there are
"unprecedented opportunities" for U.S.-Mexican counterdrug cooperation
but that success depends on Mexico's ability to combat institutional
corruption. In a report on the illicit drug situation worldwide, the
State Department said Mexican drug cartels remain powerful despite
extensive counternarcotics efforts.

"Corruption of the law enforcement sector by drug trafficking
organizations remains a serious institutional problem," it said.

On the plus side, the report said an aggressive eradication program
coupled with drought in the principal drug cultivation areas of Mexico
resulted in record low levels of opium poppy production.

In addition, the report said, commitments by President Vicente Fox,
who took office three months ago, "offer unprecedented opportunities
for greater cooperation and mutual assistance with the United States."
On Colombia, the world's largest producer of cocaine, the report said
the U.S.-backed aerial eradication program was successful last year,
treating some 47,000 hectares of coca and 9,000 hectares of opium
poppy. A hectare is about 2.5 acres.

The report added that the eradication program appeared to be having an
impact, noting that coca cultivation growth rates have slowed
substantially. Between 1997 and 1999, coca cultivation increased by 19
percent, 28 percent and 20 percent, respectively, but the increase was
down to 11 percent last year, the report said.

Meanwhile, the State Department was preparing to release its annual
"report card" evaluating the drug fighting performance of some two
dozen countries. The State Department's top counternarcotics official,
Rand Beers, was due to release the evaluations before a congressional
hearing. But officials said the White House failed to make final
decisions in time for the hearing and that Beers went to Capitol Hill
empty-handed.

Countries graded as fully cooperative in the counterdrug effort are
"certified" for their good behavior, while subpar performers are
"decertified" and can face economic penalties.

Among countries that have been decertified for years is Afghanistan.
But two weeks ago, U.N. drug control officers said the Taliban
religious militia had virtually wiped out opium production in
Afghanistan - once the world's largest producer - since banning poppy
cultivation in July. Heroin trafficking has put Myanmar on the
decertified list for many years - and subjected it, with Afghanistan,
to economic penalties. In 2000, Cambodia, Haiti, Nigeria and Paraguay
also did not meet the criteria for certification, but they were not
penalized because all are considered politically important.