MEXICAN INTERIOR SECRETARY IN D.C.

MEXICO CITY (AP) Mexico faces a deadline next month on whether it has done
enough to fight drugs and avoid facing sanctions from the United States.

Interior Secretary Francisco Labastida, who oversees domestic security and
is Mexico's second highest-ranking official, was scheduled to meet today
with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Attorney General Janet Reno
during a trip to Washington.

Labastida's visit to Washington comes at a sensitive moment in U.S.-Mexico
relations. The United States must decide by March 15 whether to certify
that Mexico has done enough to fight drugs.

Mexico would face some diplomatic sanctions if decertified, a step most
analysts view as highly unlikely.

Labastida, who is also considered a leading contender for the ruling
party's presidential nomination in 2000, was also to meet with FBI Director
Louis Freeh.

Last week, Labastida was joined by the attorney general and the heads of
the army and navy in announcing $500 million in new anti-drug spending they
said would go toward "a total war" on drug traffickers.