FOX: ASSASSINATION THREAT MUST NOT HINDER DRUG WAR

Despite Rising Violence, Mexican President Urges More Extraditions

MEXICO CITY - President Vicente Fox rejected suggestions that his
government has lost control in the fight against organized crime and
said he supports extraditing more drug traffickers to the U.S., though
he conceded that could lead to more assassination attempts against
judges and politicians.

The rise in drug cartel activities and violence in Mexico reflect his
government's success in apprehending drug kingpins, Mr. Fox said in an
interview with The Dallas Morning News. He added that his
administration would never make any kind of "deal" with organized crime.

"We will use all the power of the state until the very last minute of
this government, because this is a battle we have to win," a relaxed
but tough-talking Mr. Fox said in the interview Tuesday night.

"I don't deny there is a war going on - and it's a war we will win,"
he said.

Mr. Fox said that his administration has jailed dozens of leaders of
drug cartels and that those detentions created a vacuum that has
resulted in "second-tier" cartel operatives fighting for the "empty
spaces."

"Literally, they are killing each other for that space," he said in
the interview at Los Pinos, the presidential residence.

He said the extradition of drug traffickers to the U.S. must continue
and be expanded, despite the likely escalation of violence.

"I don't see any other way except to keep frontal, powerful actions
and activities [against] organized crime," he said.

The president said that many of the traffickers now jockeying for
power in the cartels are of a younger generation. That's why
extradition is so important, he said: "They know that they can be
exported to the United States."

Attorney General Daniel Cabeza de Vaca said Wednesday that extradition
is only one part of Mexico's strategy to fight drugs.

"We are committed to seeing that they [criminals] face justice here in
Mexico as well as the United States," he said in an interview with The
News. "We will cooperate with the American government in regard to
those [suspects] who have cases pending before American justice and
can be tried there. That's a priority of this government."

Cartel Battle

Authorities have seen a rise in the level of violence in the bloody
battle for supremacy between the rival Gulf and Sinaloa cartels, with
lethal confrontations migrating from the border to such cities as
Acapulco and Monterrey.

Mr. Fox expressed concern about rising drug use inside Mexico, which
has been known mostly for trafficking drugs to the north rather than
consuming them. He said traffickers are now after the Mexican middle
class, particularly among returning countrymen and young people in
tourist spots.

"Consumption finally became a problem for us," he said, describing
places such as Nuevo Laredo, across the border from Laredo, as
"strategic distribution points."

"In Nuevo Laredo, we will bring that city to order," the president
pledged.

In a session that touched on several topics, Mr. Fox acknowledged the
difficulty he has had enacting his programs over the last five years
because of opposition in the Mexican congress.

"I thought the respect and support of the people would get me through
Congress ... but our democracy is still in transformation," he said.
"Not having re-election to Congress, not having a commitment by
congressmen to their constituents, is part of this."

Gridlocked Legislators

The 500-member Chamber of Deputies is made up of 222 members from the
former ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI; 97 from the
Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD; 148 from Mr. Fox's
National Action Party, or PAN; 17 from the Green Party, and the
remainder from small parties. Deputies are elected to one three-year
term and may not serve consecutive terms.

Analysts have described the result as mostly gridlock.

As an example, Mr. Fox said that for two years he has had a bill
before Congress that would give him greater powers to combat drug
trafficking. He noted that drug consumption in Mexico is not a
criminal offense and that "if we catch one guy with one gram of
cocaine or marijuana, we can't do anything."

Mr. Fox said he would "make the Mexican congress responsible for every
death from organized crime."

In the interview, the president called migration "a 100-year issue and
an everyday discussion with the United States." Noting the failure of
the two countries to reach a migration accord, he said each side needs
to appoint someone specifically responsible for dealing with the issue.

He criticized as an unworthy idea a proposal by some U.S. lawmakers to
build a wall along the Rio Grande. "Building walls is not to the
stature of a democracy like the United States," Mr. Fox said.

On his watch, education has improved and the population growth rate
has declined, the president said, meaning that Mexico's population is
aging.

"Ten years from now, they will be begging Mexicans to come to work in
the U.S. economy, but we won't let them go because we will need them
here," he said.

The president also touted his success at managing what he called the
largest Mexican budget in history, bringing in private investment and
instituting democracy.