Pubdate: Tue, 07 Dec 1999 Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA) Copyright: 1999 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. Contact: PO Box 120191, San Diego, CA, 92112-0191 Fax: (619) 293-1440 Website: http://www.uniontrib.com/ Forum: http://www.uniontrib.com/cgi-bin/WebX MEXICO'S MASS GRAVES - DRUG VIOLENCE, NOT U.S. HELP, HARMS SOVEREIGNTY Maybe it will take something as horrific as a mass grave outside of Ciudad Juarez to breach the wall of distrust and nationalism that stymies full cooperation between the United States and Mexico on the problem of drug trafficking. Last week, as dozens of FBI and Mexican anti-drug agents worked side by side digging for graves, FBI director Louis Freeh and Mexican Attorney General Jorge Madrazo held a press conference on the joint effort on Mexican soil. Although the probe is far from complete, authorities fear they have uncovered the mass graves of potentially scores of victims of Mexico's drug violence. From the start, however, Madrazo found himself the object of questions and accusations from some Mexicans who believe he is selling out Mexico's sovereignty by allowing American law enforcement personnel to help investigate the Juarez killing fields. These questions didn't come only from the Mexican press, which often exploits anti-American sentiments, but also from presidential candidate Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, who said last week: "We don't require any direct intervention from any police force anywhere." Require? No. Mexico could continue sinking under a wave of drug-fueled violence, becoming every day more like Colombia, even though Bogota finally has realized that working with the United States is far better than allowing the drug traffickers to take over. Madrazo apparently sees Mexico facing the same danger. At the press conference, he loudly defended working with the FBI: "Cooperation does not harm sovereignty. What hurts it is drug trafficking." It's time for all Mexicans to acknowledge that their nation stands at the edge of an abyss of violence and corruption spawned by savage drug traffickers. The way out is to work shoulder-to-shoulder with Americans in waging war against the cartels. Our two nations cooperate on many other issues; why not on this? We hope politicians and the press in Mexico begin to see that cooperative efforts such as extraditing Mexican drug lords and allowing armed U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents to operate in Mexico wouldn't hurt Mexican sovereignty. But allowing drug traffickers to undermine virtually every public institution in Mexico most certainly will. What is required is for the United States and Mexico to launch a unified front to combat the drug trafficking that plagues both our nations. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D