MEXICO STEPS UP ITS WAR AGAINST DRUG TRAFFICKERS

WASHINGTON -- Facing stiffened criticism of its anti-drug efforts, Mexico
has stepped up its lobbying and hired three outside firms to help sell its
case to a wary White House and Congress.

Even Mexico's staunchest friends on Capitol Hill acknowledge that Mexico
probably faces a tough fight to win certification as cooperating with the
United States in the fight against trafficking.

``It is going to be very difficult,'' said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a
Texas Republican who helped deflect past attacks aimed at Mexico. ``People
are getting anxious to see results -- we can't continue to have drugs come
to our country unabated.''

In an annual exercise that has grown increasingly fractious, the Clinton
administration grades U.S. allies as a passing or failing partner in the
drug fight. Some law enforcement agencies are clamoring to fail Mexico, but
outside observers expect certification again this year.

White House drug czar Barry McCaffrey, for one, is outspoken in his defense
of Mexico. But he cautioned that the decision rests with Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright and President Clinton.

Still, McCaffrey said in an interview, ``I think an emerging viewpoint on
the part of most of us who work with Mexico is that, in accordance with the
law, they should be certified.''

That would throw the fight again into Congress, which can overturn the
administration's decision. The House two years ago voted to decertify
Mexico before Hutchison crafted a Senate compromise to defuse the
confrontation.

Mexican officials say the certification debate is counterproductive.
Mexico, like its critics, would like to see more progress in the drug
fight, said Mexican Ambassador Jess Reyes-Heroles.

``The way to achieve that is probably not to irritate everyone with the
certification process every year,'' he said.

The divisive 1997 debate was driven by the arrest, just before the
certification deadline, of Mexico's top anti-drug official on charges of
aiding traffickers.

With no surprises in 1998, the debate about Mexico was more low-key. House
Republicans appeared more critical of the administration's decertification
of Colombia, the first major U.S. ally to get a failing grade under the
decade-old law.

This year, many observers expect Colombia to get an improved grade, largely
because it elected a new president seen as tougher on drugs than his
predecessor.

``We don't have Colombia to kick around anymore, which leaves Mexico,''
said Delal Baer, a Mexico specialist at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies, a Washington study group.

She and other analysts, however, welcome what they say is a more aggressive
approach by Mexico's government to the certification debate. In November,
Mexico put three firms on six-month retainers -- including one whose
associates include former Senate majority leaders Bob Dole, a Republican,
and George Mitchell, a Democrat.

The firms also will help on other immigration and law-enforcement issues,
according to disclosure reports filed with the U.S. government. The firms
won't represent Mexico on Capitol Hill but instead help develop strategies
and information for the debates.

Mexico is paying $100,000 a month for the help. Mexico paid similar fees to
one of the firms in past years, but for public relations work across the
country.

The firms are helping Mexico explain progress in creating
corruption-resistant police forces, Reyes-Heroles said. He also cited
Mexico's arrest of major drug kingpins and its willingness to extradite
Mexican citizens on drug charges to the United States, which it had not
done in past years.

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But Mexico faces lingering bitterness this year over a U.S. drug
investigation into Mexican banks, Operation Casablanca, which led to scores
of arrests in May.

U.S. officials, however, had not told Mexican counterparts about the
money-laundering investigation. U.S. Customs Service managers feared that
Mexican corruption could threaten the lives of undercover operatives,
according to U.S. documents recently filed in a federal court in Los Angeles.

Mexico greeted the operation with anger, accusing customs agents of
operating illegally in Mexico. Some Mexican officials even threatened to
prosecute customs agents.

Mexico has yet to lift that menace, said a senior customs official, who did
not wish to be identified.

``If they were serious about leaving Casablanca behind, they would drop
their threat of extraditing our agents,'' the official said.

Customs is expected to call for decertifying Mexico, as the Drug
Enforcement Administration reportedly has in recent years.

Mexico's threat against U.S. customs agents drew a sharp rebuke last year
from Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss. And his feelings resurfaced
in a bill that Lott co-sponsored last week that, among other provisions,
would condemn Mexico for its reaction to Casablanca.

Meanwhile, newly elected House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., voted in
1997 to decertify Mexico.

``The leadership panorama is extremely difficult for Mexico,'' said Baer at
the strategic studies institute.

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Mexican officials may get help from the shifting politics of California,
where they say Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a leading critic of
Mexico, now may be less vocal.

California's growing Latino vote has helped moderate criticism coming from
the state, the Mexican officials say. And they note that the new governor,
Democrat Gray Davis, appears more supportive of Mexico than did his
Republican predecessor, Pete Wilson.

``It's a significant change from the scars we suffered in not very friendly
contact with California over the past few years,'' Reyes-Heroles said.

There's growing congressional dissatisfaction, too, with the United States
acting alone in condemning its allies. Hutchison, for one, has recently
joined with other members and the administration in calling for all the
hemisphere's nations to judge each other.

``It's so important to Texas and to our country to have a realistic
approach to this incredible drug problem that we face,'' she said.

But prospective changes are unlikely to ease the tension this year, said
Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, who also has supported Mexico.

``There are too many members of the Senate and House who take certification
as an opportunity to sound tough on drugs,'' Reyes said. ``They make as
much hay as possible by bashing Mexico.''