MEXICO ENGAGED IN WAR VS DRUGS, MCCAFFREY SAYS

Congress: The White House is expected to grant certification, but many
lawmakers remain skeptical.

Washington-Mexico is struggling to rid itself of drugrelated corruption,
and it would be a mistake for the U.S. government to declare that it is not
cooperating in the fight against narcotics trafficking, the White House's
drug-policy director said Thursday.

"There is massive corruption and violence directed at Mexican institutions
in general and law enforcement and the military in particular ...," Barry
McCaffrey told the House Government Reform Committee's panel on criminal
justice, drug policy and human resources.

"We're trying to work in practical cooperation with men and women of good
will who share our view that this drug threat is a terrible menace to their
own political institutions and their own children," he said.

McCaffrey spoke a day before the Clinton administration was scheduled to
announce whether it would certify that Mexico was fully cooperating with
U.S anti-drug efforts. By law, the president must judge the performance of
all foreign countries in which drugs are produced or transported by March
1. Those not certified as fully cooperating - and not given a national
security waiver - would be hit with economic penalties.

Lawmakers who contend that Mexico has failed to meet its responsibilities
have criticized the administration's position.

"I'm going to have to ask the Senate, 'Is it time to say no, you do not get
recertified?'" Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said Thursday.
"They're not doing what they're supposed to be doing on the drug wars. ...
If they would just extradite one drug criminal - just one - that would help
my attitude."

Only in one minor case has Mexico approved U.S. extradition requests for
drug kingpins, Sen. Diana Feinstein, D-Calif., said Wednesday. She has long
criticized Mexico's anti-drug efforts.

There have been reports that some of Mexico's law enforcement officers,
including some trained by the United States, have helped drug traffickers
and participated in drug-related violence, said Rep. Joh Mica, R-Fla.,
chairman of the subcommittee McCaffrey addressed.

"Now I'm concerned that the people we're training may be involved in some
of the terrorism," Mica said Thursday. "We've gone from corruption to
terrorism, and this concerns me."

Separately, House Speaker Dennis Hastert contended that McCaffrey's goal of
reducing illegal drug use and availability in the U.S. by 50 percent by
2007 is not tough enough.

"As Republicans, we have insisted that the nation's drug czar meet
achievable performance standards by 2003," Hastert, R-Ill., said in a
statement. "Moreover, we need the Clinton-Gore administration to share our
commitment to fight to win the war on drugs."