MEXICO LIKELY WILL REMAIN ALLY IN DRUG WAR

CLINTON: COOPERATION `HAS CLEARLY IMPROVED'

President Clinton on Monday all but assured Mexican President Ernesto
Zedillo that he again would certify Mexico as a cooperative ally in the war
against drugs, brushing aside disappointing results and U.S. congressional
criticism.

"The fundamental question is: Are we better off fighting it together or
separately, and perhaps sometimes at odds with one another?" Clinton said
at the outset of a meeting with Zedillo in this sun-washed town on the
Yucatan Peninsula.

Clinton cautioned that "neither country has won the drug war," but added
there is reason for optimism on both sides of the border.

"Finally, we've got a lot of the indicators going in the right direction in
the United States. And cooperation with Mexico has clearly improved under
President Zedillo's leadership," Clinton said.

Accompanied by Hillary Rodham Clinton on the 23-hour trip, Clinton also
made his first remarks on post-impeachment politics since the Senate
acquitted him Friday.

He vowed to cooperate with the Republican Congress that tried to oust him,
saying it is the only way to enact needed reforms. A 24-member
congressional delegation, including four Republicans, joined him on the trip.

"This is a time for reconciliation and renewal," he said. "We can't solve
the challenges of Social Security and Medicare and education and these
other things, we can't keep the American economy going, unless we have a
level of cooperation."

But it was the subject of drugs that dominated the talks here.

Clinton's annual certification of Mexico is necessary to keep U.S. aid
flowing. The certification is due in two weeks, although Clinton has not
yet formally announced his decision. It would take a two-thirds vote of
Congress to overturn his decision.

Since 1986, the United States has been required by law to annually certify
that authorities in drug-producing countries are cooperating with U.S.
anti-drug efforts. Those that aren't certified face economic sanctions such
as U.S. aid cutoff.

Mexico bristles at having to pass muster by another country. Authorities
complain that the U.S. certification law undermines trust between the two
nations. Clinton also does not like the law but has followed it. Like
Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush before him, he has routinely
granted Mexico's certification.

With cocaine and other illegal drugs continuing to stream into U.S. cities,
many members of Congress are expected to raise their annual demand that
Mexico be punished.

These critics complain about corruption among Mexican authorities, an
apparent decrease in seizures of cocaine last year, and a drop in the
number of heroin-producing poppy fields destroyed.

U.S. officials counter that Mexican authorities are finally starting to
work with U.S. authorities.

"I am impressed with the Mexican commitment to doing something about it, to
recognizing that it can't happen overnight, that sometimes there are more
frustrations than there are victories," said Attorney General Janet Reno.

And U.S. officials insist that Mexico is doing fine fighting illegal drugs.

On cocaine, Mexico seized less in 1998 than the year before, but about the
same amount as in 1994, said Tom Umberg, a spokesman for the White House
Office of National Drug Policy.

On heroin, he said, there may be more land being used to grow poppies, but
the growers have been forced to hide their once-open crops and to disperse
their fields. "They've made great progress with respect to the poppy,"
Umberg said.

Just before the summit, Zedillo announced that his government would commit
an additional $400 million to $500 million toward combating illegal drugs.

During the summit, Clinton announced that the FBI will offer training and
technical help to the new Mexican Federal Preventive Police force, which is
being created to buttress local police, who are often poorly educated and
underpaid.

Also on Monday, Reno signed an agreement with Mexican Foreign Secretary
Rosario Green to combat violence along the U.S.-Mexico border. The pact
calls for new training for local and national law enforcement authorities
and formal communications between U.S. attorneys and Mexican consuls along
the border.

With drugs always a source of tension between the two countries, Clinton
was glad to turn to economic cooperation.

Mexico has surpassed Japan as the second-largest buyer of U.S. goods and
services after Canada, and U.S. officials believe the increased trade has
helped protect North America from the worst effects of the Asian financial
crisis.

Eager to boost cross-border trade, the U.S. Export-Import Bank extended a
$4 billion line of credit to help Mexico buy U.S. goods and services.

The two-year line of credit is designed to help the Mexican public and
private sectors purchase raw materials, capital equipment, aircraft, and
other services from the United States.