MEXICAN ENVOY HIGHLY CRITICAL OF U.S. ROLE IN ANTI-DRUG EFFORT

The United States has contributed "zilch" to Mexico's efforts to
combat the nations' joint problem with criminal narcotics gangs,
Mexico's new ambassador to Washington said yesterday.

"We are going to need significantly more in cooperation from the
United States," Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan said, including increased
aid and intelligence and stepped-up U.S. efforts to stop the
southward flow of weapons, laundered money and chemicals for the
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Sarukhan's comments, in an interview with Washington Post reporters
and editors, echoed recent criticism by Mexican President Felipe
Calder?n. Since his inauguration in December, Calder?n has asserted
that the United States is not doing enough to lower U.S. drug
consumption or to help Mexico combat traffickers. He has also
criticized U.S. border and trade policies as hindering the legal
entry of Mexican citizens and goods.

Although Calder?n played the gracious host during President Bush's
visit to Mexico this month, Sarukhan said that Mexico is seeking a
more businesslike relationship with the United States than the
previous Mexican president, Vicente Fox, had with Bush. Although Bush
and Fox pledged to have a close friendship and progress on
immigration and trade issues, "at the end of his tenure, [Fox] had
nothing to show for it," the ambassador said.

Calder?n is "not trying to distance himself" from Bush, Sarukhan
said, "but he wants to send a message that, before the hugs, before
the fireworks, he actually needs to be able to prove to the Americans
and to Mexicans" that the relationship can produce tangible results.

Rather than raise "false expectations," he said, "let's prove that we
have the ability to move" forward on the long list of outstanding
issues between the two countries. "Then we'll become buddies," Sarukhan added.

A career diplomat who served as Calder?n's campaign and transition
adviser on foreign policy, Sarukhan holds a master's degree in U.S.
foreign policy from Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced
International Studies in Washington.

Bush's waning presidency and the 2008 U.S. election campaign will
probably inhibit major progress on various issues, and "I don't think
that much can be achieved in the next two years," Sarukhan said. He
said that he is "guardedly optimistic" about changes in U.S.
immigration law, but that any real change in the northward flow of
illegal immigrants would depend as much on "Mexico's ability to prove
it is working to generate jobs" as on U.S. legislation.

Mexico is increasing its consulates in this country to 49 and they
will become more active in explaining Mexico and its agenda, Sarukhan
said. He also echoed Calder?n's criticism of border delays and
transport restrictions on Mexican exports to the United States.

Noting that Calder?n has used the Mexican military and federal police
to launch major attacks against Mexican drug cartels during his first
100 days as president, Sarukhan called on the United States to move
more energetically against the illegal flow into Mexico of U.S.
weapons, laundered drug cash, and ephedrine and pseudoephedrine --
the principal ingredients of methamphetamine -- smuggled from China
and other countries through U.S. ports.

Mexico also needs "end-game resources," including real-time
intelligence and sophisticated surveillance equipment to enhance its
own anti-narcotics efforts, Sarukhan said. "What the U.S. has
provided up to now will not do the trick," he said.