U.S., MEXICO DRUG EFFORTS BLASTED AT CONFERENCE

Analysts Call American Policy Failure, Say Fox Interdiction Futile

ANALYSIS

MEXICO CITY The decades-old U.S. anti-drug policy has been a dismal
failure and has done more to fuel violence and political uncertainty in
Latin America than curb the appetite for cocaine and other drugs, critics
from both sides of the border said Tuesday.

Mexican troops and agents recently took over Nuevo Laredo to curb a drug
war that set off a shootout between police.

And some analysts dismissed drug-interdiction efforts by the government of
President Vicente Fox as inadequate, if not futile.

"We've been through the 'say no to drugs' days," said Laurie Freeman, an
associate with the independent Washington Office on Latin America, or WOLA.
"Now it's time to get smart."

"We [Mexico] have gone from a honeymoon period with the USA to business as
usual," said Jorge Chabat, an organized-crime analyst with Mexico City's
Center for Economic Research and Teaching. "The drug flow remains
undeterred. The policy is not sustainable."

The pessimistic assessments came at a conference Tuesday at the National
Autonomous University of Mexico, or UNAM, sponsored by WOLA and the
university. The event, titled, "Drugs and Democracy in Mexico: The Impact
of Narco-trafficking and Anti-drug Policies," featured U.S. and Mexican
experts on the drug war.

Over the last 25 years, U.S. taxpayers have spent an estimated $45 billion
fighting drugs, according to a study by WOLA, a group that tracks America's
drug policy in Latin America. About 70 percent of that figure has gone to
enforcement and only 30 percent to demand.

More Nuevo Laredo coverage

U.S. policy, with its heavy focus on cutting the drug supply, has had
little real impact, some analysts said, as drug-related violence spirals
across Mexico and even spills into U.S. cities, including Dallas.

Moreover, demand in the U.S. appears insatiable, especially as drugs fall
in price (particularly cocaine and marijuana) and become more readily
available than ever, said Ms. Freeman, who works in WOLA's Mexico project.

The Bush administration should shift the focus of its drug policy, several
panelists said. They urged that Washington dedicate more money to help
developing countries find alternative crops and to fund treatment and
prevention programs inside the U.S.

The conference came in the midst of Mr. Fox's continuing Operation Safe
Mexico, a campaign to restore order in key Mexican regions that have become
virtual war zones for rival drug cartels battling for supremacy.

"The new methods of violence are stunningly brutal," said Victor Clark
Alfaro, a human rights activist in Tijuana and professor at San Diego State
University. "The methods are more imaginative and crude than ever,"
including chopping victims into small pieces the size of hominy.

Nationwide, the violence has claimed the lives of more than 625 people so
far, many of them in states bordering Texas. Much of the fighting has
pitted the Zetas a paramilitary group started by Mexican Army deserters
that has morphed into an organized-crime gang that functions as the
enforcement arm of the Gulf cartel against a new group known as Men in
Black, who are Army deserters working for another cartel.

Victims of the violence include Alejandro Dominguez, who was gunned down
two weeks ago, just seven hours into his first day as police chief in Nuevo
Laredo, Tamaulipas.

Since federal troops, police and special forces took over Nuevo Laredo, at
least four people have been slain in drug-related incidents in the city,
prompting skepticism among some analysts.

"Operation Safe Mexico is the Cinderella policy." Mr. Chabat said. "After
midnight, Cinderella is plain again. After an initial impressive show, the
Mexican state is once again the Mexican state."

"The operation has done nothing for Nuevo Laredo," added Raymundo Ramos,
director of the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Nuevo Laredo.
"No big leader is in jail and no drugs confiscated. Nuevo Laredo remains a
cesspool."

Nuevo Laredo is expected to name a new police chief as early as Wednesday.
Among the candidates is Omar Pimentel, director of the Nuevo Laredo Police
Academy, state government sources said.

U.S. Ambassador Antonio O. Garza Jr. recently warned of a "rapidly
degenerating situation along the border" and "near-lawlessness in some parts."

During Mr. Fox's administration, 90 soldiers and 18 federal agents have
lost their lives in drug violence. More than 46,000 people have been
arrested on drug charges, and numerous landing strips and thousands of
acres of poppy and marijuana fields have been destroyed.

As part of the 10-day-old Operation Safe Mexico, Fox administration
officials are now consulting with authorities in Colombia about that
country's drug violence and corruption, which has infiltrated federal,
state and municipal police operations.

But speakers at the conference predicted little long-term impact for the
Fox initiative. Short of asking "the United States for assistance," said
Luis Astorga, a drug expert at UNAM, "the only way out would be for Mexico
to ask for a miracle in the form of Plan Colombia," a reference to the
controversial U.S. effort in that South American country.