SENATE FAILS TO REVERSE MEXICO DRUG RULING

WASHINGTON -- The Senate upheld on Thursday night the Clinton
administration's decision last month to certify that the Mexican government
is ``fully cooperating'' with the United States in the fight against drug
trafficking.

Senators rejected, by a vote of 54-45, a bipartisan effort to reverse the
administration's decision.

The Senate took the action despite confidential government assessments that
anti-drug efforts by Mexico have not produced significant results, and that
the Mexican military's ties to drug cartels may be much broader than
Mexican authorities have acknowledged.

Mexican officials said that they would not comment on the decision because
they regard the whole process as a unilateral imposition by the United
States. But they noted that the process came under considerable fire in the
debate.

``As always, Mexico stands for cooperation in the drug war and against
recrimination or certification,'' said Leonardo Ffrench, a Foreign Ministry
spokesman.

The Senate vote followed 90 minutes of often passionate debate on both
sides. While closer than some officials thought it would be, the vote was
never really in doubt. No Congress has overturned a White House
certification since such evaluations became an annual ritual in 1986.

The White House strongly opposed the effort to reverse its decision on
Mexico, arguing that such an action would ``send a strong signal of U.S.
loss of confidence in the Mexican government's efforts and lack of U.S.
political will to cooperate meaningfully with Mexico.''

Several senators agreed, and cited efforts by Mexico to pass new laws and
form law-enforcement units and programs to fight drug traffickers.

``If we are going to win the war on drugs, the only way is through
cooperation,'' said Sen. Kay Baily Hutchison, R-Texas. ``Harsh rhetoric
against our neighbor is not the way to do it.''

Sen. Pete Domenici, a New Mexico Republican, said: ``If we vote to
decertify, are they going to get better? There's a good chance things will
get worse, rather than better.''

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said the process was outdated and a badly
flawed instrument in gauging a country's progress in fighting drug
trafficking. He said a vote to reverse the finding would be ``misguided
anger, misguided frustration.''

But opponents of the ruling complained that Mexico's efforts were more show
than substance.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., recited a litany of signs that Mexico had
failed to rein in drug trafficking, from falling drug arrests to declining
street prices of drugs. ``Supply overwhelms demand, and prices drop,'' she
said. Sen. Paul Coverdell, R-Ga., said the administration was deluding the
public with false confidence in Mexico. ``We are losing this war and losing
this struggle, and it's not appropriate to say otherwise,'' he said.

The administration has denied certification to Afghanistan, Burma, Nigeria
and Iran. Under the law, the United States must now withhold some foreign
aid and vote against loans these nations seek from development banks.

The administration also decertified Colombia, Pakistan, Paraguay and
Cambodia but waived the penalties.