U.S. IN TALKS TO HELP MEXICO FIGHT DRUG CARTELS

Funding Aid Seen As Bolstering Calderon

WASHINGTON - Mexican President Felipe Calderon, locked in a bloody
confrontation with drug cartels, is negotiating an aid package with
the Bush administration worth hundreds of millions of dollars, several
officials say.

Officials on both sides are working out the details of the massive
counter-drug aid package. The talks have been taking place quietly for
several months and will be a central item on the agenda when President
Bush and Calderon are expected to meet in Quebec Aug. 20-21.

Mexican officials have been reluctant to go public with the
discussions, mindful of anti-U.S. sentiments harbored by many
Mexicans. However, the conservative Calderon believes he has little
choice but to enlist U.S. help, given the cross-border nature of
drug-trafficking and the ruthlessness of Mexico's drug gangs,
officials and observers told MCT News Service.

Most of the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the
sensitivity of the topic and because details of the plan could change
in coming weeks. In public, U.S. officials say little other than to
acknowledge the discussions.

"We're working very closely with the Mexicans on counter-narcotics on
a variety of fronts and at all levels of government," said National
Security Council spokeswoman Katherine Starr. "Presidents Bush and
Calderon look forward to discussing this and other issues when they
meet in Canada in August."

But officials view the talks as a bold initiative by Calderon that
underscores his resolve to tame drug-related violence - most of it
between rival cartels - that has cost the lives of 3,000 Mexicans in
the past year alone and forced the intervention of 20,000 federal troops.

"I think the Mexicans realize it's going to get worse before it gets
better," said Roger Noriega, a former U.S. assistant secretary of
state for Western Hemisphere Affairs and now with the American
Enterprise Institute think tank. "They can't do this alone and should
not have to do this alone."

One problem in the talks is that U.S. law enforcement agencies are
wary of sharing crucial intelligence information with their Mexican
counterparts, viewed as splintered and infiltrated by drug gangs.
Noriega says such prejudices ought to be set aside and the two
countries should carry out joint operations "seamlessly integrated
across the border."

The Drug Enforcement Administration estimates that 90 percent of the
cocaine consumed in the United States comes in from Mexico, which also
supplies the United States with large quantities of marijuana, heroin
and methamphetamine. This traffic has made Mexican cartels enormously
rich and powerful. One recent cash seizure netted $207 million.

Bush and Calderon hinted at an aid package when they met March 14 in
Merida, Mexico. Bush praised Calderon for his tough stand against
organized crime and drugs, and he noted that, as a consumer nation,
"the United States has a responsibility in the fight against drugs."

"Mexico's obviously a sovereign nation," Bush said, "and if (Calderon)
so chooses, like he has, will lay out an agenda where the United
States can be a constructive partner."

People familiar with the talks say Mexico drew up a list that included
equipment, training and technology - including Black Hawk helicopters,
which are difficult to come by given the U.S. wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan, but are considered the transport of choice for security
forces.

The price tag on the more ambitious aspiration is $1.2 billion, but a
more modest proposal has emerged in recent weeks in the area of $700
million, said one person familiar with the talks.

It is not clear how the administration will request the funds from
Congress, since the foreign operations spending bill for the coming
year already has been approved by the House.

The aid package under consideration inevitably will spark comparisons
to the similar program under way with Colombia since 2000. Under that
program, the U.S. government has poured more than $5 billion to combat
armed groups, as well as to eradicate coca and heroin crops. Colombian
authorities praise the program for helping reduce violence there,
though the country continues to produce vast quantities of cocaine.

Mexican officials bristle at any comparisons with the Colombian
operation, which they view as too ambitious and an infringement on
Colombian sovereignty, given the heavy scrutiny by the U.S. Congress
and direct involvement of U.S. personnel and equipment.

"Any type of a package called Plan Mexico," said Armand
Peschard-Sverdrup, a Mexico specialist with the Center for Strategic
and International Studies, "would be dead on arrival."

The Mexico package more likely will be cast as an effort to improve
Mexico's judicial system and its security forces. "The U.S. can play a
role in bolstering that reform process," he said.