DIPLOMAT SEEKS POST OF AMBASSADOR TO MEXICO

Davidow's prospects for Senate approval better than Weld's

WASHINGTON -- Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Davidow will stride
into a stately, wood-paneled hearing room this afternoon and fold his
6-foot-6 frame into a maroon leather chair facing members of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

With those unspectacular actions, he will have taken one giant step
farther in his quest to become the next ambassador to Mexico than
President Clinton's last nominee.

Last summer, committee Chairman Jesse Helms, in a battle of political
wills, refused to grant a hearing to former Massachusetts Gov. William
Weld for the position.

If, as expected, Davidow's nomination encounters no major roadblocks
in today's hearing, the career diplomat with an irrepressible sense of
humor and a deep understanding of Latin America could soon be walking
into the ambassador's residence in Mexico City.

And the United States could be on its way to repairing the
public-relations damage it has suffered south of the border by leaving
the post vacant for nearly a year during a crucial juncture in
relations between the two countries.

Drugs, immigration, trade, political strife and a fragile economy in a
country that shares more than 1,000 miles of border with the United
States make Mexico perhaps our most crucial and complicated foreign
relation, diplomatic experts say.

California's stake

Nowhere are the stakes larger than in California.

The state is home to more than 6 million people of Mexican descent and
conducts more foreign trade with Mexico than any other country besides
Japan. But the relationship has been strained by California's passage
in 1994 of Proposition 187, which denied benefits to undocumented
immigrants, and Gov. Pete Wilson's outspoken stance against illegal
immigration, Mexican drug traffic and bilingual education. Wilson is
so unpopular in Mexico that the country's ambassador to the United
States met secretly with him last month to avoid public
embarrassment.

A U.S. ambassador in Mexico could help improve relations with
California, said Professor Gregorio Mora Torres, who teaches
Mexican-American history at San Jose State University.

``I think the relations between Mexico and California are not very
good; people are very aware of the anti-Mexican hysteria going on
there,'' Torres said. ``He's not representing California specifically,
but he may be able to show Mexicans that, in fact, California politics
are influenced by local issues, not national issues.''

Powerful symbolism

The top spot in Mexico City -- home to the United States' largest
foreign embassy -- has been vacant since June. Mexico sees the choice
of ambassador sent to its country as a symbol of how the United States
views it, experts said.

The appointment of a politically powerful friend of the president
shows the country is viewed in high regard. A vacancy that lasts for
months on end means it isn't.

``There's a myth among the Latin Americans that they have to have this
very well-known national figure as the U.S. ambassador, that it's a
reflection of the importance of the country,'' said Otto Reich, a
former ambassador to Venezuela who is now a consultant for U.S.
companies on international trade and investment.

Mexicans saw Weld, at the time one of the country's most prominent
governors, a rising star in the moderate wing of the Republican Party
and an old friend of Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton's, as just such a
figure, Reich said.

But Weld's support for the use of marijuana for some medicinal
purposes and of needle-exchange programs for drug addicts ran head-on
into the rock-solid conservatism of Helms, a North Carolina Republican.

Helms believed that Weld's liberal stance on these key drug issues
made him less than ideal to be ambassador to a country in which
illegal drugs are a significant problem. Weld had also angered Helms
in 1996 by not pledging to support re-election of Helms as committee
chairman during Weld's unsuccessful run for the Senate. Helms used his
chairmanship to block a hearing for Weld, who withdrew last September
after a very public, two-month fight.

When Weld backed out, Sen. Paul Coverdell, R-Ga., another committee
member, urged Clinton to pick an experienced diplomat who could easily
be confirmed. Clinton obliged, tapping Davidow on April 28.

But people who know Davidow say Mexico won't be getting some mousy
civil servant, a gray bureaucrat who melts into the wallpaper. First
of all, that's hard to do when you stand as tall as Michael Jordan.

``It seems silly, but that's worth something, when you have somebody
moving around and being visible,'' said Martin Needler, dean of the
University of the Pacific's School of International Studies. People in
Latin American countries tend to emphasize a person's physical
attributes much more than they do in the United States, Reich said.

Davidow, a 29-year State Department veteran who is fluent in Spanish,
has been ambassador to Zambia and Venezuela. Since mid-1996, Davidow,
54, has served as assistant secretary for Inter-American Affairs, the
State Department's top person in Latin America.

Latin American expertise

``Imagine a gentleman who has lived there (in Latin America) for many
years, totally fluent in Spanish, who has enjoyed the culture and the
people, who has many, many friends all over the continent,'' said
Sergio Casanueva, the Mexican consul in San Jose. ``I'm looking
forward to seeing his performance because I'm sure it's going to be a
fascinating performance. . . . He could be a great ambassador.''

Reich has seen Davidow perform in the past. He was Reich's No. 2
official in the Venezuelan embassy from 1986 to 1988.

``He's probably one of the most talented people I have ever worked
with, in or out of government,'' Reich said. ``I can't overemphasize
the diplomatic way in which he gets things done.''

Part of that diplomacy, Reich and others said, is Davidow's use of his
sense of humor.

``Latins tend to be generally pretty formal, much more formal than we
are, and he disarms them with a very self-deprecating sense of humor,
and I think they really like it,'' said Peter Romero, Davidow's deputy
in Inter-American Affairs. ``At least you can tell that they really
warm to him as a result. He is the direct antithesis of
aloofness.''

As is his style, Davidow made a quip when he was sworn into his
current job in 1996: He called Thomas Jefferson's attempt to stop
exports the ``Hams-Bourbon Act'' because it targeted ham producers and
corn-liquor distillers. The pun played off the Helms-Burton Act, which
imposes economic sanctions against Cuba.

That topic, however, might not be a laughing matter at today's
hearing. Helms reportedly has not been happy with the way Davidow has
enforced a section of the act, which denies U.S. visas to top
executives of foreign companies that do business on Cuban property
confiscated from Americans after Fidel Castro's revolutionaries took
control in 1959.

But Helms' problems with Davidow are minor compared to his problems
with Weld. Senate sources said the simple fact that Davidow is getting
the hearing Weld was denied means that Helms will allow the nomination
to be approved.

Davidow's handling of that issue, should it arise at today's hearing,
is an example of the many political situations he'll be faced with if
he becomes ambassador. That's a concern about career diplomats, who
often are unaccustomed to dealing with politics. But Reich said
Davidow had been around Washington for long enough in his current,
politically charged post, that he should handle it fine.

``He's a very unusual and very capable person. . . . I'm sure he'll do
a very good job,'' Reich said. ``And I hope they have very tall door
jambs.''

Checked-by: trikydik@inil.com (trikydik)