CLINTON'S VISIT TO MEXICO SHADOWED BY PARADOXES

MEXICO CITY -- From this side of the long border, the United States is a
land of promise and menace, the solution to some problems and the cause of
others.

As with most other U.S.-Mexico relations, that paradox will serve as a
backdrop when President Clinton travels to Mexico to meet with President
Ernesto Zedillo.

The two leaders are expected to discuss the drug trade and immigration
during talks tomorrow and Monday.

Meanwhile, many Mexicans expressed relief that the trip won't be
overshadowed by the impeachment process, which has baffled many in a
country where presidential indiscretions are rarely, if ever, mentioned.

"How great that this silliness is over with," said Heriberto Miramontes, a
43-year-old accountant waiting in line for a U.S. visa. "There are more
important things than the personal life of a president."

Mexico is a country that fiercely insists on its independence from the
United States but depends on its northern neighbor for much of its economy.

It also has seen millions of Mexicans head north to escape poverty.

The weight of American power and confusion over what to do about it runs
deep in Mexican history. The Yucatan state capital of Merida, where the
summit will be held, is an example.

Not long after American troops captured Mexico City in 1847 -- a moment
still bitter in Mexican memory -- Yucatan leaders offered their state to
the United States in return for help in quelling an Indian war. The United
States declined.

At a Mexico City museum dedicated to U.S. invasions, children are greeted
by a quote from Jose Manuel Zozaya, Mexico's first envoy to the United
States in 1822: "The arrogance of these republicans does not allow them to
see us as equals but as inferiors. With time, they must be our sworn enemies."

A few blocks away, children of the same age frolic in the playground of a
neighborhood McDonald's that distributes toys depicting Walt Disney
characters with Happy Meals.

American cultural and economic influences extend throughout Mexico. Two-way
trade with the United States last year reached $200 billion, up from $80
billion in 1994.

Fidel Castro recently caused a rare crisis in Mexican-Cuban relations when
he suggested that Mexican children knew more about Mickey Mouse than their
national heroes. The statements outraged Mexican diplomats, but some
newspaper columnists agreed Castro was right.

These days, Mexican nationalists are denouncing a government proposal to
let foreigners buy part of Mexico's electricity system.

At the same time, Mexico's top business organization is urging adoption of
the U.S. dollar as the country's currency.

But Mexicans also are often frustrated by what they see as U.S. disdain for
their sovereignty and laws.

Officials here have been trying for three years to convince a U.S. court to
return former Deputy Attorney General Mario Ruiz Massieu to face charges of
corruption and obstruction of justice. U.S. courts have said they lack
evidence.

Mexico's own usual refusal to extradite its citizens has led U.S.
congressmen to push for financial reprisals under U.S. laws requiring the
president to "certify" whether foreign nations are helping fight drug traffic.

Mexican officials have denounced certification as an insult to their good
will and sovereignty. They often point out that their struggle against
drugs and related corruption is created by a vast U.S. demand for drugs.

Perceived U.S. slights are echoed in ways both big and small.

Mexico was the only Latin American nation that always snubbed U.S. pressure
to break ties with communist Cuba and it remains Cuba's closest friend in
the Americas.

And in a Mexican variant of Monopoly, known as "World Tourist," the
cheapest space on the board is the United States.