MEXICO RELIEVED BY CERTIFICATION

MEXICO CITY (AP) Mexicans expressed grumpy relief Friday after President
Clinton's certification of their country as a partner in drug fighting.

The importance of the decision was reflected in the television reporting on
the announcement and in the headlines of afternoon dailies.

"Gracias, Uncle Sam," declared El Universal Grafico.

"CERTIFIED," announced Ovaciones.

Juan Rebolledo, undersecretary at the Foreign Secretariat, said Mexico was
happy "that an obstacle has not been imposed to cooperation."

Clinton is required each year to certify whether Mexico and other countries
are fully cooperating in the fight against narcotics trafficking. A
negative decision may have led to financial sanctions against Mexico.

Mexican officials argue that certification and the threat behind it is an
insult to their own good will and sovereignty, and they say it has damaged
cooperation against drugs.

"It should be us who certify the United States," Vicente Yanez, president
of the National Chamber of Manufacturing Industries, said in an interview
with the Formato 21 radio station.

Mexican officials often complain that U.S. demand for drugs fuels the
illegal drug trade between the two countries.