FOX BASKING AFTER VICTORIES IN DRUG WAR

State officials and military officers watch as more than 11 tons of
marijuana, 100 pounds of cocaine and some heroin and psychotropic drugs are
set ablaze. The drugs were burned last week at the Octava Zona Militar de
Tamaulipas in Reynosa, Mexico.

MEXICO CITY -- In this city's grandest plaza, where the nation's army
annually flaunts its might and where gloomy peasants come to demand better
lives, President Vicente Fox has taken a turn in the spotlight.

A recent ceremony at the Zocalo, the sprawling historic plaza, was a
platform to underscore Fox's determination in the war on drugs.

Although many analysts doubt long-term, positive results, for now there's
good news: In just 16 months under Fox's administration, the army, federal
police and attorney general's office have arrested more top drug barons
than did the previous two administrations in the same period of time.

And last week, federal officials nabbed 21 city police from Tecate and
Tijuana, along with 20 officers from the Baja California state police, all
linked by authorities to the Arellano Felix drug trafficking organization.

At the Zocalo ceremony last month -- just two days after revealing the
federal budget had been cut by $1.1 billion to offset lower oil profits --
Fox announced a $40 million authorization to the Federal Preventive Police
for high-tech equipment, including video-and computer-equipped high-speed
vehicles and 4,400 weapons and other armaments.

The equipment will help secure borders, airports and federal facilities,
and comes in recognition for helping "cripple" Mexico's most dangerous drug
barons.

The big catch: two of the feared Arellano Felix brothers, who managed drug
operations along the Pacific coast states and were on the FBI's most wanted
list.

Ramon was shot to death in February in Mazatlan and his brother, Benjamin,
was arrested in Puebla last month.

Two weeks ago, Mexican authorities scored another coup when they dismantled
a secret 1,000-foot tunnel under the U.S.-Mexico border that agents said
the Arellano Felix gang had used for a decade to funnel cocaine and
marijuana into California.

"Now, no one protects anyone and no one is above the law," Fox said,
referring to the long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party he ousted in
2000 and whose leaders long had been viewed as being in league with drug
cartels.

Mexicans tend to be wary of official statistics about drugs. And the
revelation last week that the shooting death of Ramon Arellano Felix may
have come at the hands of drug traffickers, assisted by local police, is
reason to remain skeptical.

Still, figures show that in the 16 months Fox has been in office, at least
10 major drug traffickers have been taken off the streets and seizures of
guns and drugs have surpassed the actions of previous administrations.

By comparison, three kingpins were nabbed during the entire six-year term
of Carlos Salinas de Gortari and 16 for the tenure of Ernesto Zedillo, whom
Fox succeeded.

"I believe some statistics have increased from previous years, and some
arrests are important," said Jorge Chabat, a drug and security specialist
with the Mexico City-based Center for Research and Economic Teachings.

"But the arrests will not have a major impact on the traffic and production
of drugs. There's a long line of successors waiting around the block to
take over."

History supports his view.

Analysts believe there are about 60 Mexican drug organizations. When one
falls, violence usually ensues in the takeover of territory as it has over
the years in the ongoing struggle for control of the lucrative West Coast
pipeline.

Government corruption, in the judicial system in particular, also remains a
thorny problem, a situation underscored last week by a United Nations
investigator.

"The level of impunity and corruption in Mexico is a wide societal problem
brought on by a political system controlled for nearly a century by a
single party that did not need to account for its acts," Param Cumaraswamy
told the 53-nation U.N. Human Rights Commission, as reported by the
Associated Press.

Drug trafficking has bolstered the corruption, he said.

"Whatever the changes and reforms, they are not seen in reality,"
Cumaraswamy said in a 49-page report he presented to the commission.

A 1993 murder remains an especially painful open wound: the slaying of
Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo, who was shot to death as he sat in his
car at the Guadalajara airport.

Authorities believe the prelate either was caught in cross-fire between
rival drug gangs or, they theorize, the shooting was a case of mistaken
identity.

Authorities implicated the Arellano Felix organization, and brother
Francisco was convicted in the killing.

But earlier this month, a federal judge dismissed charges against Benjamin
Arellano Felix linking him to the Posadas death, leading officials on both
sides of the border to worry about cartel intimidation of the judiciary.

Chabat said the apprehensions help Fox's relationship with the Bush
administration and are key to improving Mexico's image among U.S.
policy-makers.

"It helps Fox, because when he goes to the United States for help on trade
and immigration, critics who say Mexico isn't doing much have less force
after this," Chabat said.

But, Chabat added, Fox's main commitment is to improve the lives of
Mexico's 100 million people, who have tired of corruption and crime.

In the Zocalo, as a gigantic Mexican flag flapped above the National
Palace, police were enthralled as they acquired weapons and flashy new
cars, trucks and high-speed motorcycles.

Federal Preventive Police Commissioner Hector Luevanos Becerra, in charge
of both the northern and southern Mexican borders, said seizures and
arrests have increased under Fox.

"I see the figures every day," he said. "These new vehicles will only
improve our conditions to battle crime. It's proof of Fox's commitment."

The hailing of this progress in the drug war came as Fox's approval ratings
were slipping.

After years of a government's unfulfilled promises and drug trafficking
arrests that went awry, voters in 2000 elected Fox of the conservative
National Action Party. Change hasn't come fast enough for many, however.

Fox's anti-crime and anti-drug proposals remain vague or frozen in
Congress, where his party does not hold a majority. Impatience also has
intensified as Mexico feels the economic ills of neighboring America.

Politicians are unhappy, too.

Displeased with his progress on domestic issues and unconvinced the
president's snug relationship with the White House has helped Mexico, the
Senate went on the offensive last week. Lawmakers grounded Fox, keeping him
from leaving the country Monday to make a two-day trip to the United States
and Canada.

By law, the chamber must approve all presidential travel abroad.

Despite the criticism at home, Fox and his administration have pushed to
strengthen ties with the United States. Crime and drugs are agenda priorities.

The nations are cooperating in unprecedented fashion on intelligence
gathering. Mexico is creating a national database of known criminals and
the FBI is helping Mexico train a newly created Federal Agency of
Investigation.

The army so far has taken much of the credit for the crackdown on crime,
and the military's prominence in the war on drugs isn't lost on human
rights activists. Anti-drug duties are expected to be phased out of the
army's purview, but Fox hasn't set a date for it.

Not every piece of news in Fox's war on drugs has been positive, though.

One of Mexico's most-wanted cartel leaders, Joaquin Guzman Loera, "El
Chapo," believed to have controlled cocaine and marijuana shipments along
Pacific states, escaped from a maximum security prison during Fox's first
months in office.

He was arrested in 1993 trying to cross Mexico's border with Guatemala. He
remains at large.

"There's a lot of work to do. The problem is very serious," said
Congressman Francisco de Silva Ruiz, director in the Chamber of Deputies
for National Defense and a member of Fox's party. "But Fox's efforts are
clear as day and Mexicans are aware of it."