MEXICANS DENOUNCE U.S. AMBASSADOR OVER DRUG REMARKS

Diplomacy: Government Lodges Protest After Envoy Calls Neighboring Nation
One Of The World's Main Headquarters For Narcotics Traffickers.

(MEXICO CITY)---The government issued a formal protest Friday after the
U.S. ambassador to Mexico described the country as one of the world's
main headquarters for drug traffickers--a comment that kicked up a
storm of angry criticism by politicians and newspapers.

"The contempt for Mexico is obvious," the Mexico City newspaper
Cronica declared in its editorial Friday. The uproar reflected the
sensitivity of Mexicans to charges by their powerful neighbor that
this country is responsible for the flow of drugs northward.

Such sensitivity is especially intense now, just days before the U.S.
government issues its annual certification of nations cooperating in
the anti-drug fight.

In the past, U.S. legislators have challenged the Clinton
administration's contention that Mexico deserved a passing grade.

The latest tempest over drug trafficking began Thursday when U.S.
Ambassador Jeffrey Davidow, fielding questions at a meeting with
Mexico City alumni of USC, said: "The fact is that the headquarters of
the drug-trafficking world are now in Mexico. Just as the
headquarters, the main base, of the Mafia was in Sicily, now the main
bases of drug traffickers are in other countries, and Mexico is one of
them."

Davidow's analysis differed little from what officials of the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration have said for years. They say the
majority of Colombian-made cocaine reaching U.S. cities arrives via
Mexico, as do important shipments of marijuana and heroin. A handful
of criminal gangs in Mexico is believed to control the movements of
drugs.

But the comments prompted an outcry in Mexico, where politicians,
commentators and the public have traditionally blamed the narcotics
problem on drug users in the United States.

Many are so suspicious of the U.S. government that they believe the
drug issue is used to weaken Mexico. "These are totally offensive
comments," said Jorge Calderon, a member of the Mexican Senate's
Foreign Relations Committee. Americans, he added, "are trying to blame
Mexico for a problem that they have the biggest responsibility for."

In an unusual move, acting Foreign Minister Carmen Moreno summoned the
U.S. charge d'affaires, James Derham, to express "surprise" at the
ambassador's remarks.

"This type of comment undermines mutual confidence and therefore tends
to benefit our common enemy, which is international organized-crime
drug groups," Moreno said, according to a communique.

There was no comment from Davidow, who was attending a meeting in
Houston, or the U.S. Embassy. Mexico is widely expected to be
certified by the Clinton administration this year. Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright and Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, head of the White
House Office of National Drug Control Policy, recently praised
Mexico's cooperation in the anti-narcotics fight.

Nonetheless, some U.S. legislators and anti-drug officials complain
about widespread corruption and inefficiency in Mexico's police
forces. Two influential U.S. congressmen, Benjamin A. Gilman (R-N.Y.),
the chairman of the House International Relations Committee, and Jesse
Helms (R-N.C.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
echoed such charges this week.

In a letter to Albright, they said drug cartels "do business with
virtual impunity in Mexico."

A country that is not certified can be subject to U.S. economic
penalties.