MEXICO HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF DETAILS PLIGHT OF COPS

Drug traffickers have a saying when they encounter a narcotics officer in
Mexico: "¿Plomo o plata?" Translated literally, that means "Lead or
silver?" But what the smuggler really is asking the law official is, "Would
you prefer a bullet or a bribe?"

José Luis Soberanes Fernández, Mexico's top human rights protection
official, used the scenario Wednesday to illustrate the dire situation
faced by many Mexican police officers who combat drugs.

The Mexican police have to buy their own bullets and uniforms, and they
make only $600 a month, the National Human Rights Commission president told
a group of about 50 at the Doubletree Hotel.

"If they accept bribes from a drug trafficker, they can receive thousands
or hundreds of thousands of dollars," said Soberanes, who heads the
independent human-rights oversight agency.

Soberanes spoke Wednesday morning at a meeting of the Asociacion De
Empresarios Mexicanos, an organization of San Antonio businessmen and women
who are of Mexican descent.

Soberanes' speech, delivered in Spanish, explained in part why police
corruption exists in Mexico. To improve the situation, he said, officers
should be given benefits, public recognition and a salary that "would allow
them to live with dignity."

Graciela Oyervides said Soberanes' presentation showed her that some
Mexican police are going to become corrupt "not because they want to, but
out of necessity."

Aside from police issues, Soberanes also spoke about the federal commission
to which he was appointed president in 1999. Soberanes explained how the
commission is structured, its recent recommendations and the strides Mexico
is making in the human rights arena, said Armando Ortiz Rocha, who recently
assumed his post as Mexico's consul general here.

Among the human rights issues facing Mexico that Ortiz cited were the
treatment of criminals and women's rights issues.

Staff writers Regina Hurtado and Carmina Danini contributed to this report.