MEXICO HEADS INTO DRUG SUMMIT FUMING AT U.S.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - President Clinton will hear some heated words from
Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo when the two meet Monday as Mexico is
still smarting over a secret U.S. sting operation against Mexican money
launderers.

Zedillo has promised his countrymen to grill their northern neighbor for
breaking pledges of bilateral cooperation by launching the bold anti-drug
operation while keeping the Mexicans in the dark.

Clinton and Zedillo will be joined by other world leaders at a United
Nations drug summit in New York, and the two likely will have a private
meeting Monday, the White House said. The U.N. session on drugs is set to
run from Monday to Wednesday.

In last month's sting called Operation Casablanca, U.S. agents lured
Mexican bankers to a fake casino in the United States. As a result some 150
people were arrested, $50 million was seized and three Mexican banks were
indicted.

But rather than thank the United States, Zedillo has promised to find out
whether Americans may have violated international law or crossed into
Mexican territory.

``Sovereignty is the highest value that we Mexicans have,'' Zedillo said
recently. He also sent a letter to the Mexican Congress promising to
``declare that cooperation is the ideal route to stand up to drug
trafficking and that unilateral measures are counterproductive.''

Mexico is acutely sensitive to any perceived intervention from the north.
Average Mexicans have a keen sense of history on such matters as how the
United States grabbed half of Mexico's territory more than 150 years ago.

The United States apologized for not telling Mexico about the operation --
but also called it a major blow to drug traffickers. In the past U.S.
anti-drug agents have complained that their Mexican counterparts cannot be
trusted because of their alleged susceptibility to bribes from drug cartels.

A Mexican document on the three-day drug summit listed as one of Mexico's
main objections ``respect for the sovereignty and territorial jurisdiction
of each country'' and the ''nonintervention in internal affairs'' of other
nations.

In a series of protests over the past three weeks, a perturbed Zedillo has
stepped beyond the measured tones that is his usual style. Other Mexican
politicians and commentators were even more livid over Operation Casablanca.

The fans were flamed when Mexican congressmen got hold of a letter sent by
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott to Zedillo in which Lott expressed
``disappointment'' over Zedillo's protest of the U.S. operation.

``How long are we going to continue putting up with this gringo harassment
without protesting,'' Luis Martinez, a politician from the southern state
of Oaxaca, wrote in a letter to Reforma newspaper.

Checked-by: Richard Lake