MARIJUANA GROWERS AND DRUG TRAFFICKERS SET FIRES IN MEXICO

MEXICO CITY -- The pall of white, acrid haze hanging over states from Texas
to Florida is caused by Mexican farmers clearing land to plant corn - and
marijuana.

For weeks, fires have been raging throughout Mexico and much of Central
America, choking cities, causing schools to close and airports in some
areas to suspend operations. Last week, the thick haze began moving north,
affecting mostly the Gulf states but also reaching the Midwest. In Texas,
officials advised people to remain indoors to avoid the "hazardous" smoke.

Most of the blazes are set by farmers following the age-old tradition of
burning overgrown cropland before the spring planting and May rains. With
this year's extremely dry and hot conditions in the region, many have
burned out of control.

But in a disturbing new development, this year Mexican officials say some
of the fires are also being set by drug traffickers. With 30,000 soldiers
who might normally be sent out on drug interdiction missions being
reassigned to help battle the fires, the drug traffickers are finding that
the more fires burn, the easier it is for their merchandise to flow north.

Yet some of the traffickers' fires also have an "agricultural" purpose,
officials add: Land is being cleared for marijuana. Last Friday in the
Pacific state of Sinaloa, firefighters arriving at a raging blaze were shot
at by farmers who didn't want the fire put out. The fire was set to clear
land for marijuana planting, but ended up burning out of control and was
still blackening forested acreage over the weekend.

Mexico has registered nearly 10,000 fires this year, which have charred
more than a half-million acres, according to the environment secretariat.
That's more than 200 percent over the annual average for the past five
years. While part of the blackened earth is crop acreage, Mexico is also
losing forest lands: Last week, a fire was burning out of control in the
country's last virgin rain forest.

Fires are also burning out of control in Honduras and Guatemala.

Officials say the land is so dry this year as a result of the El Ni–o
weather phenomenon that the fires are likely to continue until annual rains
arrive later this month. That apparent resignation may be one reason so
little has been done up to now to stop the burning. On Friday, Mexico
accepted a belated offer of fire-fighting assistance made earlier in the
week by the US and Texas.

US Sen. Phil Gramm (R) of Texas last week sent a letter to President
Clinton requesting that US help be sent south. "It seems clear that the
governments of Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala are simply incapable of
fighting these enormous fires," Mr. Gramm said in his letter.

The assistance to Mexico will include the use of tanker planes and
helicopters and other equipment to fight the fires, plus participation in a
reforestation program and training after the fires are out.

In a sardonic moment Friday, popular Mexico City radio commentator JosŽ
GutiŽrrez Vivo quipped that whereas Americans are accustomed to Mexico
sending its people north, "now we're sending smoke 'Made in Mexico.' "

Mexican officials acknowledge they lack the resources for a full assault on
the fires. Already 50 firefighters have died in the blazes, most of them
wearing only T-shirts and jeans and equipped with little more than shovels
or blankets to smother the fires. But officials also cite social and
cultural conditions that make stopping the fires complex. Around Mexico
City, fires have been set inside ecological reserves by squatters taking
advantage of the weather to clear land for illegal dwellings. Officials
insist that no change in the reserves' protected status will be tolerated.

Then there are the thousands of subsistence farmers who are following their
annual custom in setting the fires. Only on Friday did officials begin
asking farmers in some states to suspend burning.

On a recent trip to the Yucatan Peninsula, this reporter saw dozens of
fires burning. And every day, poor local farmers armed with machetes and
cans of kerosene could be seen ambling along - doing what they do every
burning season.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski