Pubdate: Sat,  9 Sep 2000
Source: Ft. Worth Star-Telegram (TX)
Copyright: 2000 Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas
Contact:  http://www.star-telegram.com/
Forum: http://www.star-telegram.com/comm/forums/
Author: Suzanne Gamboa, Associated Press

HUTCHISON PROPOSES MORATORIUM ON EVALUATION OF MEXICO'S ANTI-DRUG
PERFORMANCE

WASHINGTON -- Wanting to give Mexico a fresh start, Texas Sen. Kay Bailey
Hutchison has proposed calling a time out on the annual evaluation that the
United States gives its southern neighbor on its drug-fighting performance.

During a break in debate on China trade Thursday, Hutchison introduced a
measure that would suspend the anti-drug certification process for Mexico
next year.

The State Department annually evaluates the drug fighting performance of
other countries according to a congressional mandate. In theory, economic
sanctions could be imposed if a country's performance is deemed inadequate.
Despite feelings in Congress that Mexico has not done enough, it has not
been decertified.

Mexico's next evaluation is due in March.

Hutchison, a Republican, said she is "more optimistic than ever that Mexico
is prepared to make the sacrifices necessary to contain the drug threat.

"I think democracy is beginning to be real in Mexico and we want to do
everything we can to encourage this democracy," she said.

By March, the United States and Mexico will have new administrations.
Mexican President Vicente Fox, whose election ended the 71-year reign of the
Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI, takes office in December. The
winner of the U.S. elections in November would take office in January.

Hutchison said that would thrust the new administrations into a contentious
process before they've had the chance to plan for cooperation on drug
interdiction.

Hutchison was joined in sponsoring the legislation by California Sen. Dianne
Feinstein, who has criticized Mexico's performance on drug trafficking and
once called for the country's decertification.

"I co-sponsor this legislation today as an experiment to see that, if by
putting aside contentiousness of a certification debate next March, there
can be a new, more productive process," Feinstein said.

Other co-sponsors include Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., chairman of the Senate
Budget Committee and Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., who serves on the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee and has been a leading spokesman on Latin
American issues.

Although it is late in the congressional session, the measure has bypassed
the committee process and is on the Senate calendar for consideration for
vote.

Domenici, as a member of the Appropriations committee and a senior committee
chairman, will be involved in crafting the Senate's final omnibus spending
package, in which the Hutchison measure could be included, giving it another
avenue for passage.

Mexico and other countries have labeled the certification process as unfair,
unilateral and counterproductive. Other measures have been proposed in
Congress to change the certification process, including one by Dodd, but
have failed.

Recently, U.S.-drug czar Barry McCaffrey said that he is confident the next
administration would change the way drug fighting efforts are measured in
the Americas.

The Hutchison proposal demonstrates that support for changing the process is
gaining support, said Jose Antonio Zabalgoitia, a Mexican embassy spokesman.

"I sincerely expect this proposal signals not only a new U.S. approach, but
also a new era in bilateral counter-narcotics cooperation," Mexican
Ambassador Jesus Reyes-Heroles said in a statement.

Zabalgoitia emphasized, however, that the proposal doesn't alter Mexico's
view of the certification process and won't influence his country's current
anti-drug policies.
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MAP posted-by: Don Beck