CLINTON DEFENDS MEXICO, COLOMBIA ROLES IN DRUG WAR

WASHINGTON -- Ignoring recommendations by top Republican lawmakers,
President Clinton declared yesterday that Mexico is fully cooperating with
U.S. counternarcotics efforts as it attempts to curb the country's
well-organized and often violent drug cartels.

In his annual, congressionally mandated report card on the performance of
countries used as drug source or transit points, Clinton also "fully
certified" Colombia as a reliable partner in the drug war despite a 20
percent increase in coca cultivation.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms and House
International Relations Committee Chairman Benjamin Gilman, R-N.Y., said
last week that the situation in Mexico continues to deteriorate. They
recommended that Mexico be "decertified" as a cooperative partner, a move
that, under law, could have brought about economic reprisals against Mexico.

Barry McCaffrey, the White House drug control chief, responded to Helms and
Gilman by issuing a powerful defense of Mexico's effort. "They're spending
a higher per capita percentage basis of their budget on counter drug
activities than the United States is," he said.

If the Mexican effort is a charade, "it's the most expensive one I've ever
seen," McCaffrey said. He said Mexico's operating budget for anti-drug
activities is $1 billion, with $520 million earmarked for equipment.

"The drug seizures of the Mexican navy have skyrocketed," he said.

Mexican Attorney General Jorge Madrazo said Mexico's own best interests
demand fighting drug trafficking. "It's a matter of national security, for
the protection of our children. We believe in multilateral cooperation," he
said.

In making their case against Mexico last week in a letter to Albright,
Helms and Gilman said that there has been "no major progress in uprooting
the drug cartels that do business with virtual impunity in Mexico."

Congress has the right to overturn the certification of Mexico or any other
country so designated, but any such move is highly unlikely.

On Colombia, McCaffrey said President Andres Pastrana is pursuing an
integrated strategy for curbing drug trafficking and deserves continued
U.S. support.

Colombia is the world's largest producer and distributor of cocaine and has
been working closely with the Clinton administration on drug issues.
Clinton is seeking $1.6 billion in assistance for Colombia over the next
two years, most of to counter drug activities.

Clinton recommended, as he did last year, that Afghanistan and Burma be
decertified because of their role in heroin trafficking. Four other
countries -- Cambodia, Haiti, Nigeria and Paraguay -- did not meet the
criteria for certification, but they were not penalized because of vital
U.S. interests, McCaffrey said. The four received similar designations last
year.

The remaining 20 countries subject to evaluation were certified as fully
cooperative.