ALLIES IN DRUG WAR

In August Mexico's President-elect Vicente Fox visited the United States
and Canada in hopes of forging a stronger alliance between our three
nations. Mr. Fox promises to confront drug traffickers once he takes office
in December. An outspoken critic of drug certification (the annual
evaluation process in which the U.S. judges other countries' efforts to
combat illegal drugs), Fox favors mutual assessment among equal partners. A
proponent of decentralization and state's rights, he seeks to foster
"democracy, legality, peace" in Mexico while improving the country
economically and educationally.

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy welcomes increased
participation by Mexico -- and all countries in this hemisphere -- in the
struggle against the drug trade and political corruption that accompanies
it. Prevention through anti-drug education, increased opportunities for
treatment, improved interdiction, and strengthening the rule of law are
commitments Mexico and the U.S.share.

We can be proud of the progress both nations made in recent years. In 1996,
Presidents Clinton and Zedillo created a bi-national High level Contact
Group to develop collective approaches for reducing drug demand and
trafficking, controlling precursor chemicals, and detecting
money-laundering as well as illegal arms trade. The Contact Group works to
eradicate supply of illicit crops and the criminal organizations dealing
with cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and other dangerous substances. In
1997-98, the U.S. and Mexico produced a joint drug-threat assessment and a
common strategy for cooperation. In recent years, three enormously
successful bi-national conferences on reducing drug demand brought together
health-care professionals and community leaders from both countries. Mexico
strengthened its National council on Addictions and made some headway in
arresting the astronomical growth of drug dependence. Finally, in the past
five years Mexico eradicated 125,000 hectares of marijuana and 80,500
hectares of opium poppy through aerial spraying and annual eradication by
the Mexican Army and national police. During that time, the government also
arrested several drug kingpins. The Mexican Navy and U.S. Coast Guard
interdicted thirty-three tons of cocaine in FY 1999.

Our efforts to date set the stage for the ambitious work President Fox
seeks to accomplish. The Organization of American States will provide the
venue for a multilateral evaluation mechanism that should be more
cooperative than confrontational. Mr. Fox's plan to attack drug-related
corruption is commendable and courageous. While internal affairs are
Mexico's own business, cross-border crime is an area where both Mexico and
the United States have a legitimate common interest, and our
law-enforcement officials should be able to cooperate. The noted pragmatism
of President-elect Fox can help produce creative approaches to the global
problem of illegal drugs. Significant progress against drug trafficking
could facilitate the type of free exchange that Fox anticipates across the
two thousand-mile open border between our countries.

Mexico, Canada, and the United States are now linked by the North American
Free Trade Agreement. NAFTA will increase prosperity and strengthen our
resources for combating drug problems. Mexico is now our second-biggest
trading partner in the world (after Canada).

In upcoming years, we must bridge the distance between a hundred million
Mexicans and 270 million Americans. Our countries share not only adjacent
geography but rich historical, cultural, and religious connections that
tend to pull us together commercially and politically.

President-elect Fox's visit underscored his commitment to build upon past
counter-drug accomplishments. We may wish to consider four principles for
future action.

Openness: We are willing to entertain all good ideas. Everything must be
put on the table for consideration.

Transparency: Our governments should be up-front with one another and the
public in regard to illegal drugs. Science-based research needs to be applied.

Equality: We respect both nations' sovereignty. A peer partnership, where
all parties bear the same level of responsibility, must be the basis for
counter-drug coordination.

Friendship: Given our joint dedication to overcoming the drug problem, a
spirit of collaboration is appropriate. The hazard we face refutes the
notion of drug-suppliers versus drug-consumers. Wherever drugs are sold,
abuse develops.

Mexico and the U.S. are committed to rooting out a drug malignancy that
could overwhelm other forms of cooperation are still the answers to a
problem that threatens us at home, next door, and abroad.