FOX CRITICIZES AMERICA FOR FOSTERING DRUG TRADE

SAN CRISTOBAL, Mexico - Days before his inauguration as president, Vicente
Fox said America should deal with its drug habit and pledged to join the
United States and Canada in what he called "NAFTA-plus."

In an interview with the Associated Press before he takes office on Friday,
Mr. Fox said the United States has been too quick to write off Mexico as a
corrupt haven for drug smugglers - and too reluctant to look in the mirror.

"The United States year after year blames us. Why?" Mr. Fox asked. "Who
lets the drugs into the United States? Who is doing gigantic business in
the United States, then sends down millions of dollars that corrupt Mexican
police officers and government officials?"

Mr. Fox said the two countries need to "sit down . . . and work this out
together."

Mr. Fox has promised strong measures against drug corruption, but his
comments indicate he will continue - or increase - Mexico's long-standing
complaint that the supply of drugs would not exist without demand in the
United States.

He also said that despite a tepid reaction from both George W. Bush and Al
Gore, he was confident that he would persuade his northern neighbors to
expand the North American Free Trade Agreement and eventually to open their
borders entirely to Mexican goods -and maybe even workers - along the lines
of the European Union.

"I am proposing a 'NAFTA-plus,' " he said. "I'm proposing that 20, 30 years
down the road we form a North American common market in which we become
partners, the United States, Canada and Mexico.

"I will continue to insist on this, and I know I will win the battle," Mr.
Fox said. "I am going to persuade Bush or Gore, whoever it is. And I am
going to persuade the American people."

Mr. Fox's election on July 2 was a historic change for Mexico, ending 71
years of rule by a single party. On Friday, the country enters a new era as
Mr. Fox takes office - and takes on dire problems including crippling
poverty, widespread corruption and rampant crime.

A farmer and former Coca-Cola executive, Mr. Fox pledged to treat the
country as a chief executive officer would a money-losing company, and to
build "a government that costs less and does more."

Over the weekend, he took his final breather before the presidency,
retreating to his hometown of San Cristobal, a farming village 210 miles
northwest of Mexico City.

Mr. Fox milked a cow, tended to horses in the stables and played tennis,
and joined his children in an out-of-tune number with a mariachi band. He
sat for interviews Saturday with the Associated Press and CNN in his
mother's living room, amid porcelain figurines of horses and
black-and-white wedding photos of family members.

Chatting with his children and posing for photographers, Mr. Fox seemed
extremely relaxed given what he's facing.

"It's just like in school," Mr. Fox said. "When it's time for exams, the
people who have studied go in calmly, with the confidence that everything
will go well. . . . I am going to be the best president this country has
ever had."

Mr. Fox said he was aware of the huge - probably unrealistic - expectations
Mexicans have for him, but claimed he wasn't worried about them. On the
contrary.

"I would never throw cold water on that enthusiasm, on that hope," he said.
"I dare say that this is Mexico's revolution of hope."

But he cautioned that most of the changes he envisions will take much
longer than his six-year term.