MASS GRAVES IN MEXICO MAY AFFECT D.C. DEBATE

The discovery of bodies of suspected drug-cartel victims on an arid Mexican
ranch may have reverberations 2,000 miles away when Congress debates in
March whether Mexico is a cooperating ally in the war on narcotics.

While U.S. officials are praising Mexico's cooperation in allowing the FBI
to participate in the exhumations of as many as 100 victims, the grisly
operation offers vivid evidence of the lawlessness in regions controlled by
Mexico's drug kingpins. "What we're really talking about is the most
powerful organized crime systems in the world," said Thomas Constantine,
who retired as head of the Drug Enforcement Administration earlier this
year. "They create more damage in the United States than they ever have
before."

U.S. lawmakers, who have chafed at Mexico's inability to crack down on the
drug cartels, will be called on in March to decide whether to certify
Mexico and other drug-producing countries as cooperative allies.
Decertification could lead to economic sanctions and loss of foreign aid.

Certification of Mexico, which is the transit point for an estimated 70
percent of all illicit drugs smuggled into the United States, has been
hotly debated on Capitol Hill in recent years. But it would take a
two-thirds vote by Congress to overturn a presidential certification
recommendation -- and the Clinton administration has been a staunch ally of
Mexico.

"If these events demonstrate an inability to bring to justice persons
involved, clearly that would begin to develop as a negative," said Sen.
Paul Coverdell, R-Ga. He has led past decertification efforts but now
favors alternate sanctions directed at drug chieftains, not their governments.

Mexico must abandon its historic reluctance to extradite major drug
kingpins, said Rep. Benjamin Gilman, chairman of the House International
Relations Committee, who has favored decertification. He also wants Mexico
to increase its drug interdiction and anti-corruption efforts, and allow
U.S. agents to carry weapons when they work in Mexico.

"We have the biggest open border on the face of the earth. Three hundred
million people cross that border each year, and 80 to 100 million cars and
trucks," White House director of drug policy Barry McCaffrey said. "We have
no choice but to work with Mexico.