COOPERATION WILL CURB DRUG TRAFFIC

Maybe it will take something as horrific as a mass grave outside of
Ciudad Juarez to breach the wall of distrust and nationalism that
stymies full cooperation between the United States and Mexico on the
problem of drug trafficking.

Last week, as dozens of FBI and Mexican anti-drug agents worked side
by side digging for graves, FBI director Louis Freeh and Mexican
Attorney General Jorge Madrazo held a press conference on the joint
effort on Mexican soil. ...

From the start, however, Madrazo found himself the object of questions
and accusations from some Mexicans who believe he is selling out
Mexico's sovereignty by allowing American law enforcement personnel to
help investigate the Juarez killing fields.

These questions didn't come only from the Mexican press, which often
exploits anti-Mexican sentiments, but also from presidential candidate
Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, who said last week: "We don't require any direct
intervention from any police force anywhere."

Require? No. Mexico could continue sinking under a wave of drug-fueled
violence, becoming every day more like Colombia, even though Bogota
finally has realized that working with the United States is far better
than allowing the drug traffickers to take over.

Madrazo apparently sees Mexico facing the same danger. At the press
conference, he loudly defended working with the FBI: "Cooperation does
not harm sovereignty. What hurts it is drug trafficking."

It's time for all Mexicans to acknowledge that their nation stands at
the edge of an abyss of violence and corruption spawned by savage drug
traffickers. ...

- - The San Diego Union