THE AMERICAS Copyright (c) 1997, Orange County Register THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER March 21, 1997 NEWS; Pg. A03 Contact Info for THE ORANGE COUNTY Drug find: Italian customs police discovered 17 tons of marijuana hidden in a ship that had arrived in Genoa from Guatemala, it was announced Thursday. Senate backsdesignation of Mexico as drugwar ally The Senate, after intense negotiations with the White House, voted Thursday to accept President Clinton's designation of Mexico as a U.S. ally in efforts to combat illegal drugs. The measure, approved 945, decries both countries' losses to narcotics traffickers and demands progress on both sides, with Clinton required to make another assessment Sept. 1. The action means that Congress did not follow through on earlier threats to overturn Clinton's 3weekold finding that Mexico is a committed soldier in the war against drugs. NEWS 25 ELSEWHERE IN THE REGION REBELS SEEK HELP: Rebels holding 72 hostages in the Japanese ambassador's residence have summoned 60 fighters from Peru's central jungle to Lima to help in case of a government raid, a newspaper reported Thursday. Meanwhile, Cuba confirmed Thursday that it had accepted a Japanese request to grant asylum to the rebels. CLASH OVER CRASH: Cuba's foreign minister called his counterpart in Spain a "liar, blackmailer and meddler" Thursday for criticizing Cuba's treatment of a tourist involved in a traffic collision. Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina was responding to a warning by Spanish Foreign Minister Abel Matutes that Spain might urge its citizens not to vacation in Cuba. The Spanish tourist apparently can't leave the island due to pending legal action. NORIEGA DEAL? Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega says federal prosecutors offered him a lighter sentence if he implicated Fidel Castro in drug smuggling, a charge the prosecutors denied Thursday. Noriega made the statement in a prison interview that aired Wednesday on CBS' Spanishlanguage network Telenoticias.