CLINTON MEETS WITH MEXICO'S ZEDILLO

MERIDA, Mexico (AP) President Clinton said America's leaders must
"keep our eye on the ball," as he plunged today into his
post-impeachment term with initiatives to encourage Mexico's
frustrated drug war and expand its market for U.S. exports.

"Our courses are converging," Clinton told Mexicans in an address at
the Peon Contreras Theater.

Here, on the Yucatan peninsula, he and President Ernesto Zedillo
agreed to tighten the evaluation of drug-fighting performance on both
sides of their 2,000-mile shared border.

The presidents' private meetings earlier today at Hacienda Temozon
translated, aptly for this 23-hour visit, as "Whirlwind Estate" came
three days after Clinton was acquitted by the Senate of impeachment
charges.

Clinton said it was time to focus on America's business. "If everybody
just keeps our eye on the ball ... I think we'll all be fine," he said
in an exchange with reporters during talks with Zedillo.

In two weeks, Clinton must, in the face of unfulfilled extradition
promises and dropping drug seizures, render a formal evaluation of
Mexico's cooperation in shutting down the narcotics trade.

"We can talk candidly about (drug frictions) now because we have
started to talk the same language the language of parents who love
their children ... the language of leaders who recognize that our
responsibility is to protect our people from violence," Clinton said.

He complimented the Mexican effort, saying counter-narcotic
cooperation between the United States and Mexico "has clearly improved
under President Zedillo's leadership."

In turn, Zedillo called Clinton and his wife, Hillary, "dearest
friends," and displayed a touch of nationalist pride when he said:
"For Mexicans, the commitment to fight drugs is first and foremost a
commitment to ourselves, to our children ... to our safety and to our
future."

The Mexican president said his people were "convinced and determined
to keep up the fight against drugs until we win."

Another Mexican priority, Zedillo said, is "a safe, clean and
productive border a source of pride for the communities that share
that border."

Answering Mexican and U.S. congressional complaints that the current
process is vague, one-sided and political, Clinton and Zedillo
outlined today 16 measures including extraditions by Mexico and
dealing with American consumers' demand for illegal drugs.

"Clearly, neither side has won the war on drugs," said White House
spokesman David Leavy. "What today's announcement gives us is
specific, concrete goals to work towards."

While U.S. officials billed this as the visit's banner announcement,
they also tried to play down the drug agenda by describing Clinton's
mission as "regular maintenance" of relations with an important ally.

Export-Import Bank president James Harmon, part of a 52-member U.S.
delegation, was here to spotlight with Clinton a two-year, $4 billion
line of credit to Mexican businesses that "buy American."

For Clinton, today's agreements, which Cabinet officials and their
Mexican counterparts signed at a massive credenza on the hacienda
lawn, marked a passage into his post-impeachment presidency and
brought an obvious sense of freedom.

He and Mrs. Clinton lingered for three hours Sunday night over an
intimate dinner with Zedillo and his wife, Nilda.

And, after months of avoiding reporters, the Clintons visited the
press cabin of Air Force One Sunday, passing out Valentine's
chocolates from a heart-shaped box.

"Isn't this the biggest heart you ever saw in your life?" Clinton
asked reporters. "This is a better kind of heart of darkness."

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who joined Clinton here from
her weekend stop at the Paris peace talks on Kosovo, has not made her
recommendations on the drug certifications, required under a 1986 law.

But White House officials made plain in advance of Clinton's arrival
in this city on the Yucatan Peninsula that he is likely to certify
Mexico as an ally in fighting narcotics, as it has been for 12 years.
This would come despite Mexico's disappointing record on extraditions
and a drop last year in cocaine and heroin seizures.

"There's no doubt Mexico is doing everything it can to fight this
massive problem," said Leavy.

A failing grade would mean economic sanctions on top of diplomatic
insult to Mexico, which sees the U.S. certification process as political.

To that end, Clinton was here partly to gird Zedillo for a hard sell
on Capitol Hill, where Congress can override his certification of
Mexico. "If history is any guide, we certainly anticipate a very
difficult time" in Congress, said deputy White House chief of staff
Maria Echaveste.

Mexico blames much of its drug problem on the United States, because
Americans are the world's biggest buyers of illicit narcotics. About
two-thirds of the cocaine sold in the United States comes through Mexico.

Today marks Clinton's second trip to Mexico as president and his
seventh meeting with Zedillo.

They were expected to sign modest agreements to improve border safety,
prevent cross-border pollution and tuberculosis infections, and train
Mexico's soon-to-be-created federal police force, which is modeled
after the FBI and meant to be a fresh start for the country's
long-corrupt law enforcement.