Pubdate: Tue, 4 Jul 2000 Source: Reuters Copyright: 2000 Reuters Limited. Author: Anthony Boadle ILLEGAL DRUGS AND IMMIGRATION The State Department said it looked forward to working closely with the Fox, a charismatic Harvard-educated rancher and businessman, on the three key areas for the two neighbours: trade, migration and narcotics. For decades, Mexicans have been crossing the 2,000-mile (3,219 km) U.S. border illegally in search of work and a better life, and one in every 15 Mexicans born in Mexico now lives in the United States. Mexico is also the main entry point for cocaine, marijuana and other illegal drugs sold on U.S. streets. U.S. drug enforcement agencies want Mexico to step up extradition of drug traffickers wanted in the United States. Clinton administration officials said Fox was determined to crack down on drug cartels that have corrupted Mexican authorities and unleashed violence along the border. "There is a real opportunity here. This is a sophisticated leader who has a tremendous revulsion for the violence and corruption that come out of drug-related organisations," White House drug policy chief Barry McCaffrey told Reuters. "He is extremely determined to confront these international drug criminals," he said. McCaffrey said 82 million trucks and cars and 300 million people cross the U.S.-Mexico border each year and the flow of drugs cannot be stopped without Mexico's cooperation. He praised Zedillo for identifying drug trafficking as Mexico's No. 1 national security threat and Attorney General Jorge Madrazo for confronting drug gangs in the last three years. McCaffrey said Fox will have to build a new administration and intends to base it on meritocracy. But Roett said the drug trade will continue to be a thorny issue in relations with Mexico as long the United States fails to cut the demand for narcotics that drives the illegal trade. Financial experts said Fox's election will be a boon for trade and investment in Mexico, and they expect him to be more aggressive in privatising state-run companies and cleaning up the seamier parts of the Mexican economy. Fox's wide margin of victory, which gave his National Action Party (PAN) a plurality in both chambers of Congress, helped dispel fears of a financial crisis like the peso crash that followed Zedillo's inauguration in 1994. "There is an overwhelming sense that after four very disruptive government transitions, this will be a normal one," said Paulo Vieira da Cunha, a senior economist with Lehman Brothers. "This candidate comes in with a level of legitimacy that no other Mexican president has had," he added. Political diversity was here to stay in Mexico, with the leftist Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD) consolidating its hold over Mexico City, where ruling party mandarin Jesus Silva Herzog came in third, Roett said. Fox, however, will not be able to govern Mexico alone, and will have to pull in independents and moderates from the other two main parties, the political analyst said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D