GRIM TRAFFICKING REPORT FAILS TO `DECERTIFY' MEXICO

WASHINGTON -- The White House announced Thursday that Mexico was ``fully
cooperating'' in the fight against drug trafficking, brushing aside a
confidential law-enforcement analysis affirming that none of the recent
steps taken by the Mexican government ``have produced significant results.''

In its annual report card on countries where drugs are produced or are
transported to the United States, the Clinton administration also ruled
that Colombia was not cooperating fully. But Colombia was exempted from
punishment and was issued a waiver under the law.

While some senior administration officials lavishly praised Mexico's
record, the confidential assessment by the Drug Enforcement Administration
painted a darker picture. It downplayed the impact of a large effort to
overhaul the Mexican federal police, saying corrupt officials continue to
assure the impunity of Mexico's biggest drug traffickers.

``During the past year,'' the analysis reads, ``the government of Mexico
has not accomplished its counternarcotics goals or succeeded in cooperation
with the United States government.''

``The scope of Mexican drug trafficking has increased significantly, along
with the attendant violence, even against U.S. and Mexican law-enforcement
officials and sources of information,'' stated the report. ``The level of
drug corruption in Mexico continues unabated.''

Mexico had been expected to win the endorsement of the White House as part
of the annual evaluation of drug-control efforts abroad, known as
certification.

But officials acknowledged that the announcement Thursday followed two days
of often-chaotic political maneuvering, and that the blunt criticism it
immediately received from members of both parties in Congress suggested
that the Clinton administration may have underestimated the volatility of
the issue.

``We must make an honest assessment,'' Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif, said
at a Senate subcommittee hearing Thursday. ``And by no realistic standard
can Mexico be deemed to have cooperated fully, which is the standard of the
law.''

Feinstein and other legislators said they expected considerable debate over
the administration's endorsement of Mexico, which can be overturned by the
Congress. It was unclear whether the critics had as much support as they
did last year, when the White House only narrowly prevailed.

In its review of drug-enforcement programs in 30 countries considered
important to the production or transportation of illegal drugs, the
administration this year denied certification to Afghanistan, Burma,
Nigeria and Iran. Under law, the United States must now withhold part of
any foreign aid those countries may receive and vote against loans they
might seek from international-development banks.

The administration also decertified four other nations -- Colombia,
Pakistan, Paraguay and Cambodia -- but waived the penalties, saying the
waivers were in the interest of national security.