MEXICO LIKELY TO GET DRUG-WAR OK

Clinton Expected To Certify Its Assistance Against Trafficking

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton is expected this week to again certify that
Mexico is fully cooperating in the U.S. fight against drug trafficking.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will announce Clinton's decision on
Friday. The decision appears less likely to generate the intense opposition
on Capitol Hill it did last year, when lawmakers sought unsuccessfully to
overturn it.

By March 1 every year, federal law requires the president to assess whether
Mexico and 29 other countries are cooperating in U.S. anti-drug efforts.

Since the law began in 1986, Mexico -- although it's the source of
two-thirds of the cocaine that enters the United States -- has always
received a passing grade. Colombia has twice been decertified.

An administration official, who declined to be identified, said no major
changes were likely in this year's drug review.

To prepare the groundwork for another certification of Mexico, both U.S.
and Mexican officials have been touting their success in combating the drug
trade. Two weeks ago, they announced a new joint strategy that largely
reiterated old promises of cooperation.

"If we're going to make progress, we're going to make it together," said
retired Army Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, director of the White House anti-drug
office, in unveiling the strategy.

Last week, Mexican officials told reporters that they made much progress
last year in arresting cartel members and seizing illicit narcotics
shipments.

In September, the White House released a report -- required by Congress --
that hailed Mexico for "significant strides" in preparing the legal
framework for fighting drug traffickers.

Unlike last year, when many members of Congress lobbied Clinton to
decertify Mexico, few lawmakers are now pushing for a change in Mexico's
status as an ally against drugs.

Some of last year's most vocal critics of Mexico's certification -- Sens.
Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Paul
Coverdell, R-Ga., -- have yet to announce their position this year.

But the senators say they remain concerned about Mexico's record and are
receiving classified briefings on it.

"The information I have received thus far," said Feinstein, "indicates
that, although some progress has been made, particularly in the area of
destroying the cultivation of heroin and marijuana, there is disturbing
evidence of a lack of progress in some key areas."

Feinstein said the drug cartels are as strong, if not stronger, than a year
ago.

"I know of no instance where Mexican officials offered meaningful
intelligence information to U.S. narcotics officials to facilitate the
arrest of drug smugglers or cartel leaders," she complained.

Coverdell, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's panel on the
Western hemisphere, said he's concerned about reports that a CIA report
links Francisco Labastida Ochoa, Mexico's new interior minister, to drug
lords.

The CIA and the State Department have declined to comment on the report,
cited in a recent Washington Times article. When asked about it, McCaffrey
said: "I personally have no evidence of allegations of this nature that I
would find compelling."

Mexican authorities have denied that the minister has any connections to
drug traffickers.

Several lawmakers said they will withhold judgment on Mexico's record until
they can discuss the topic with administration officials, including one
from the CIA, at public hearings scheduled this week.

Last year at this time, the sentiment on Capitol Hill was considerably more
negative toward Mexico. A big factor was the arrest in February 1997 of
Mexico's highest-ranking anti-drug official -- Gen. Jesu“s Gutierrez
Rebollo -- on charges he accepted bribes from a drug lord.

After Clinton recertified Mexico on Feb. 28, the House voted to overturn
his decision if Mexico did not make progress within 90 days.

But the Senate failed to take similar tough action. In a compromise crafted
by Feinstein and Coverdell, it voted instead for a measure that cited both
Mexican and U.S. failures to fight drugs and required a progress report by
Sept. 1.

Last year, a growing number of lawmakers also called for a change in the
annual drug review, saying it antagonizes many of the countries graded.
Many Latin Americans despise the annual U.S. review, calling it "moral
imperialism" and interference in their domestic affairs. They prefer
instead a hemispheric-wide treaty on fighting drugs, an alternative that
McCaffrey has also endorsed.

©1998 San Francisco Examiner