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FLORIDA

NORIEGA MAKES CLAIM

Miami Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega claims
federal prosecutors offered him a lighter sentence if he
implicated Fidel Castro in drug smuggling, a charge the
prosecutors denied yesterday. Noriega, who is serving a
40year sentence for protecting U.S.bound cocaine
shipments through Panama, made the Castro claim in a
television interview. WASHINGTON, D.C.

SENATE VOTES ON DRUGS

The Senate resoundingly approved legislation yesterday
that spells out its expectations for more intensive
antinarcotics efforts by both Mexico and the United
States. The legislation, passed on a 945 vote, upholds
President Clinton's certification that Mexico is fully
cooperating in the war on drugs but lists 18 areas where
the Senate believes the battle should be fiercer. The
House, which voted last week to reverse Clinton's
certification, wasn't expected to consider the Senate
legislation before Congress adjourns for two weeks.