CLINTON OKS MEXICO'S EFFORT AT FIGHTING DRUGS

Washington, D.C. - Despite strong opposition on Capitol Hill and in some
parts of his own administration, President Clinton said Friday he is
certifying that Mexico is "fully cooperating" with the United States in
combating narcotics trafficking.

"Mexico is cooperating with us in the battle for our lives," Clinton said
in San Francisco.

The president's decision came two days after senior administration
officials told a special Senate panel that corruption in Mexico has reached
unprecedented levels and that the Mexican government has made little
progress in combating cocaine cartels.

Yet in an address to California business leaders, Clinton praised Mexican
President Ernesto Zedillo, saying he was "working hard to tackle the drug
traffickers headlong."

"He cannot win this battle alone," the president said. "And neither can we."

Yet at the Senate hearing Wednesday, Drug Enforcement Administration
Director Thomas A. Constantine said that corruption in elite Mexican
antinarcotics units trained by the United States has reached such a high
level that American law-enforcement agencies no longer trust their
counterparts across the border.

"The power of the Mexican criminal organizations has grown virtually
geometrically" over the past five years, resulting in corruption
"unparalleled to anything I've seen in 39 years of law enforcement,"
Constantine said.

The DEA chief's comments caused some members of Congress to question
whether Mexico deserves certification.

Rep. John Mica, a Republican from Florida, issued a statement Friday
questioning why the administration was rewarding Mexicans "with U.S. trade
and foreign aid when they are dramatically increasing their heroin
production and significantly lowering their seizures of illegal drugs."

Mica is chairman of the House Government Reform Committee's panel on
criminal justice, drug policy and human resources.

On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, a Republican from
Mississippi, said he will consider asking the Senate to overturn the
decision to certify Mexico. He said of Mexican officials, "They're not
doing what they're supposed to be doing on the drug wars."