TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO LAUDED FOR ROLE IN DRUG WAR

Albright to seek more help at meeting today

BLACK ROCK, Tobago -- U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called
yesterday for more cooperation against drug traffickers and praised
Trinidad and Tobago for leading the way.

In 1996, Trinidad and Tobago became the first Caribbean nation to sign an
agreement allowing U.S. authorities to pursue suspected drug traffickers
into its territorial airspace and waters.

Albright said she would discuss "the increased need to cooperate even
further . . . on a scourge that knows no boundaries" at a meeting today
with foreign ministers of the 15-member Caribbean Community.

The 1996 agreement led to severe criticism from neighboring islands, which
accused Trinidad of sacrificing its sovereignty, Prime Minister Basdeo
Panday said yesterday after meeting with Albright.

Since then, most Caribbean islands have signed drug-fighting pacts with
Washington, some allowing only air or sea pursuits.

Albright said that "each nation's sovereignty is enlarged and not
diminished" by cooperating against drug traffickers who many fear are
gaining political influence on some islands.

Albright and Panday also signed agreements to share technology, protect the
marine environment and control air pollution.

At today's meeting on Trinidad, both sides likely will lament a lack of
progress on regional issues since President Clinton met with Caribbean
leaders in Barbados in May.

Then, Caribbean leaders hailed as a breakthrough a U.S. agreement to link
the drug war to helping develop tiny Caribbean economies dwarfed by the
resources of drug cartels.

The United States is sending four aircraft and two patrol boats to help
Trinidad and Tobago track down traffickers, Albright said.

But she cautioned "our finances are limited" and did not mention ways to
increase island trade opportunities. Caribbean nations once buoyed by
generous U.S. aid have lost thousands of jobs because of the North American
Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.

Clinton left the Barbados summit promising to send Congress legislation
expanding trade opportunities for the region. But Congress refused to do
so.

Trinidad and Tobago, which had the region's best chance of winning
NAFTA-type parity, appears to have given up.

"NAFTA is now a bad word in the United States," Panday said. "We're going
alone to other areas where we could effectively be in NAFTA."

Panday's oil-rich country already has a free trade agreement with Mexico
and, through the Caribbean Community, with Canada.

The Caribbean Community, the prime minister said, was discussing similar
trade pacts with the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and Colombia.

Copyright 1998 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.