Pubdate: Feb 14, 1999
Source: CNN (US)
Copyright: 1999 Cable News Network, Inc. A Time Warner Company
Contact:  http://www.cnn.com/
Author: John King, The Associated Press and Reuters

ILLEGAL DRUG TRADE TOPS AGENDA FOR TALKS

U.S., Mexico To Sign Multibillion Pact In Yucatan Summit

MERIDA, Mexico (CNN) -- In his first post-impeachment journey abroad,
President Clinton began a short summit Sunday in Mexico to bolster the
country's struggle against narcotics and corruption and expand its
markets for U.S. products.

The president and his wife were greeted when they arrived at sunset by
Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo and his wife, Nilda. An honor guard
saluted the Clintons, and four children presented flowers.

The leaders and their wives later headed to a private
dinner.

Clinton, traveling outside the United States two days after his
acquittal by the Senate, was accompanied by about a half-dozen
members of his Cabinet, including retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey,
director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy,
Attorney General Janet Reno, and Export- Import Bank President James
Harmon.

Clinton brought with him a $4 billion line of credit from the
Export-Import Bank to lend to Mexican businesses that buy U.S. goods
and services. He planned to announce the aid Monday, an administration
official said.

In two weeks, the administration must render a formal evaluation of
Mexico's cooperation in fighting drug trafficking. Clinton and Zedillo
have met about every six months over the past few years, and officials
say this meeting is intended to maintain good relations.

The presidents are expected to discuss immigration and complete an
agreement on safety and environmental protections along their
2,000-mile border.

Neighbors to liberalize travel, fight forest fires

The administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said
other agreements the presidents will sign after their Monday summit at
Hacienda Temozon include:

- -- A civil aviation pact to liberalize flights between the United
States and Mexico, estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of
dollars to the nations' airlines.

- -- $1.2 million in U.S. funds to the Mexican Nature Conservation Fund,
to prevent a repeat of last year's forest and grassland fires South of
the border that sent smog into Texas.

- -- U.S. training and assistance to Mexico's new federal police force,
meant to be a fresh start for the country's long-corrupt law
enforcement system.

- -- a campaign in 10 Mexican and 10 U.S. cities in the border area to
educate people about tuberculosis.

- -- a joint effort to coordinate aid to Central American nations hurt
by Hurricane Mitch.

Mexico could be hit with tough economic sanctions if it receives a
failing grade in the drug battle. While the administration says Mexico
has a tremendous drug problem, it is believed Clinton will certify
Mexico as a cooperative ally in fighting narcotics, as the United
States has done in the 12 years since the congressionally mandated
review process began.

Even before Clinton's trip, the administration appeared to be laying
groundwork for a positive report while acknowledging that cocaine
seizures by the Mexican police have dropped.

"We think we've made a lot of progress over the last year," said James
Dobbins, the National Security Council's senior director for
InterAmerican Affairs.

Congress' skepticism could fuel Mexican nationalism

Yet White House certification could be overturned by a two-thirds
vote in Congress, where skepticism runs deep about the Zedillo
government's performance.

Such a congressional action could trigger a nationalist backlash in
Mexico, where the certification process is widely disliked.

The process "is frankly against the spirit of collaboration that
should exist between our two countries, our governments and our
peoples," Mexican Foreign Minister Rosario Green said ahead of the
Clinton visit.

Relations between the countries have been further strained by the
Casablanca sting operation in which the U.S. Justice Department
investigated Mexican banks involved in money laundering without
informing their Mexican counterparts.

In an apparent reference to Casablanca, Mexican legal officials are
considering a measure to punish police agents from other countries who
act without authorization on Mexican soil.

Mexico blames the United States for much of its drug problem, because
U.S. citizens are the world's biggest buyers of illicit narcotics. Yet
in hopes of winning certification, Mexico announced a $400 million
"total war" February 4 that calls for buying aircraft, ships, radar,
X-ray equipment and other items.

Mexico is a major transit point for cocaine shipments from South
America to the United States. It also is a major producer of marijuana
and a significant producer of heroin.

With friction over drugs, the administration sought to highlight
progress on another front: booming economic trade between the United
States and Mexico in the five years since the North American Free
Trade Agreement.

Mexico has emerged as the second-largest foreign market for U.S.
exports, after Canada. It eclipses even Japan, a U.S. official noted.

U.S. exports to Mexico total $79 billion a year, more than twice the
pre-NAFTA figure. Mexico accounts for close to 20 percent of the total
of U.S. export growth in the past five years.

CNN White House Correspondent John King,, The Associated Press and
Reuters contributed to this report.
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