MEXICO'S DRUG WAR LEADS AGENDA OF CLINTON SUMMIT

White House officials admit that Mexico still has a "tremendous problem"
with drug trafficking but are praising its eradication efforts in advance
of President Clinton's two-day trip there that begins today.

Mexico's war against drug traffickers, highlighted by a new $400 million,
land-sea-and-air battle plan, tops the agenda for Mr. Clinton's meetings
with Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo.

The setting will be the Yucatan Peninsula, a tourist haven where the two
presidents and their wives will have a Valentine's evening dinner before
Mr. Clinton and Mr. Zedillo get down to business Monday. They have met
seven times previously.

In addition to drugs, their agenda includes trade, migration and the
environment.

Their meetings will take place against a background of a congressionally
mandated review of Mexico's cooperation with U.S. counternarcotics efforts
in the past year.

Mexico could face stiff economic sanctions if it receives a failing grade,
but all signs point to a U.S. decision to "certify" Mexico as fully
cooperative - as it has been all 12 years the process has been in effect.

Taking nothing for granted about Mr. Clinton's decision, however, Mexico
declared "total war" against the drug chieftains Feb. 4 through a program
that specifies early detection of drug flights and sea shipments and a
stepped-up counternarcotics role for the Mexican army.

The three-year plan contemplates purchases of aircraft, ships, radar, X-ray
equipment and other items.

Mr. Clinton's national security adviser, Sandy Berger, said Friday that
drug control is an important part of the U.S. agenda. In the two years
since Mr. Clinton and Mr. Zedillo established a set of common objectives,
he said, "We have seen Mexico extradite fugitives, eradicate thousands of
acres of opium, criminalize money-laundering and institute a new screening
process for law-enforcement officials.

"Still, obviously this is a tremendous problem for Mexico, but one that
they are tackling," he said.