and Marcus-Mermelstein (1) Dallas Morning News; (2) San Jose Mercury News Title: (1) U.S., MEXICO REACH AGREEMENT ON DRUG FIGHT Contact: (1) (1) http://www.dallasnews.com Title: (2) U.S., MEXICO MAKE PACT ON EFFORTS TO FIGHT DRUGS Contact: (2) (2) http://www.sjmercury.com/ Pubdate: Sat, 7 Feb 1998 Author: David Lagesse of the Dallas Morning News WASHINGTON -- The United States and Mexico announced an agreement Friday that administration officials and outside analysts said would help to ensure continued U.S. certification of the Mexican anti-drug effort. Coming after nearly a year of negotiation, the pact outlines broad areas of cooperation between the governments. But it lacks specific commitments and is unlikely to silence the sharp congressional criticism of Mexico's commitment, one skeptic said Friday. ``It's fine ... we should have bilateral agreements,'' said Rep. John Mica, R-Fla. ``But it's funny that their little agreement is coming as we are looking at the certification process again.'' By the end of the month, President Clinton must rate the effort of U.S. allies in the fight against drug trafficking. Congress then has 30 days to overturn the administration's assessments, a process that has led in recent years to fractious debates over the efforts of Mexico and Colombia. Colombia ranks as the largest producer of cocaine that makes its way to the United States, while Mexico serves as the leading transportation pipeline, according to U.S. analysts. The Clinton administration has given Colombia a failing grade the past two years, which cost the country some U.S. financial aid. The administration, however, approved Mexico's efforts despite widespread reports of corruption among top-ranking Mexican officials. Lawmakers concede it is nearly impossible to decertify Mexico, which shares a 2,000-mile border and is the United States' third-largest trading partner. But an embarrassing incident last year, plus continuing criticism of Mexico's efforts from the Drug Enforcement Administration, has fed a lively debate in recent years within the Clinton administration. A year ago, Mexico arrested its top drug fighter -- Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo - -- on charges of taking trafficker bribes, sharpening congressional criticism of its counterdrug efforts. That incident chagrined U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey, who had previously embraced Gutierrez Rebollo as a champion in the fight against narcotics. McCaffrey on Friday endorsed another Mexican official who was accused of associating with traffickers. ``The Washington Times'' this week said a CIA report fingered Mexico's new interior minister, Francisco Labastida Ochoa, with ``long-standing ties'' to drug dealers when he was governor of the Mexican state of Sinaloa. ``I personally have no evidence of allegations of this nature that I would find compelling, and we have no intention of going to the Mexican government about allegations of this nature on this gentleman,'' McCaffrey said. ``We intend to work with him.'' The allegation surprised many policymakers within the administration. Several agreed with McCaffrey and said Mexico is expected to again win full certification, a finding they said was helped by Friday's agreement. Leaks of allegations against Mexico's government are becoming a regular part of the certification debate, analysts said. But John Bailey, an expert on Latin American affairs at Georgetown University, said the two countries should be applauded for their effort to work more closely together, even if Friday's agreement lacks specifics. Friday's agreement is the product of a senior-level group of officials from both countries that has met regularly over the past year. ``They've created a forum that didn't exist before for law-enforcement issues,'' Bailey said. ``Police worry about making arrests -- but the senior group is now worrying about the long-term political and strategic consequences.'' The bilateral agreement itself gives the U.S. government stronger justification for certifying Mexico as cooperating, said Peter Smith, director of Latin American Studies at the University of San Diego. ``Mexico is guaranteed certification, certainly this year and probably next,'' he said.