Source:  International Herald Tribune, Los Angeles Times
Contact: Drug Charges By U.S. Help Mexican Win
By Mark Fineman, Los Angeles Times Service
   AGUA PRIETA, MexicoIn the midst of the worst electoral
showing in 68 years by Mexico's longgoverning Institutional
Revolutionary Party on July 6, Vicente Teran Uribe is a bright spot.
   The landslide victory of the 41yearold executive, who funded his
own campaign for mayor of this border town, came despite a recent
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration report that named him as 'one
of Mexico's 20 top narcotics traffickers.
   And therein lies a good illustration of U.S.Mexican border relations.
   Mr. Teran's victory can be seen as a kind of referendum on Mexican
feelings about the United States and its escalating drugenforcement
effort along the border. It also reflects a strong feeling by Mexicans that
the United States, in its zeal to pressure Mexico to crack down on the
multibilliondollar crossborder drug trade, has gone too far toward
meddling in Mexican politics.
   In the aftermath of Mr. Teran's impressive victoryhe won just over
50 percent of the vote in the field of four the mayorelect
underscored the lingering bitterness that he, his supporters and much of
the local population harbor for the big government just on the other
side of the dilapidated chainlink fence that runs between Douglas,
Arizona and Agua Prieta.
   Mr. Teran denied the Drug Enforcement Administration's allegations.
But he couldn't help but appreciate the boost he said they gave him.
"The lies that were spread definitely helped me," he said. "Far from
alienating people, the allegations angered many and united them more
behind Vicente Teran."
   Agua Prieta voters knew about the allegations since they were
published at the peak of Mr. Teran's campaign in a Drug Enforcement
Adrninistration document, "Mexico's Top Echelon Traffickers," and in
more than a dozen Mexican and U.S. publications since then.
   "Vicente Teran Uribe is identified as a member of a large cocaine
distribption organization based in Agua Prieta and Hermosillo, Sonora,"
the document said. "Cocaineladen aircraft that originate in Colombia
are reported to land on Mexican airstrips at ranches allegedly owned by
Teran Uribe." The document also said Mr. Teran was believed to be
"involved in largescale money laundering."
   Within days of publication of the allegations against Mr. Teranwho
asserts that his fortune came not from drugs but from years of hard
work selling satellite disheshe had a lead of 5 percent in the opinion
polls.
   Reaction north of the border to the outcome of the July 6 elections
further illustrated the complexities of the relationship between the two
neighbors. The day Mr. Teran was proclaimed the winner, the U.S.
Senate passed a resolution congratulating Mexico for its exercise in
democracy. At the same time, U.S. officials near the border were
concerned about the alleged drug connections of the mayorelect of
Agua Prieta. But they also were worried about what impact the
allegations would have on future cooperation with him.