Pubdate: Sun, 14 Feb 1999 Source: Miami Herald (FL) Copyright: 1999 The Miami Herald Contact: http://www.herald.com/ Forum: http://krwebx.infi.net/webxmulti/cgi-bin/WebX?mherald Author: Dudley Althaus CLINTON, ZEDILLO TO HASH OUT MEXICO'S ANTI-DRUG EFFORTS MEXICO CITY -- President Clinton arrives in Mexico tonight for a 24-hour visit with President Ernesto Zedillo framed by the annual tug of war between the White House and the U.S. Congress over Mexico's anti-narcotics efforts. Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton are scheduled to arrive in the city of Merida, capital of Yucatan state, for what had been expected to be a low-key stopover after a trip to storm-ravaged Central America. But the trip to Central America was postponed until early next month because the Senate impeachment trial kept Clinton in Washington. Clinton, Zedillo and their wives will dine together tonight in Merida. Then the two leaders will hold talks, along with members of their Cabinets and staffs, Monday morning. Despite the brevity of the visit, White House officials say Clinton and Zedillo will discuss issues ranging from narcotics and immigration to the 5-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, which formally links the economies of Mexico, the United States and Canada. The Merida meeting comes just weeks before Clinton must make his annual certification report to Congress stating that Mexico and other countries are cooperating fully with U.S. efforts to curtail the international narcotics trade. Despite years of corruption scandals and evidence of high-level official involvement with drug-smuggling organizations, no U.S. administration has ever decertified Mexico on the grounds that its government was not making a good-faith effort in the drug war. Last week, Clinton administration officials once again praised Mexico's efforts in the drug war. "There's a difference between cooperation and success," State Department spokesman James Rubin said. Two-thirds of Colombian cocaine passes through Mexico on its way to U.S. consumers, U.S. drug enforcement experts say. Mexican narcotics gangs also produce and ship large quantities of heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine to the United States. The certification issue has become an annual ritual in Washington, as the White House and Congress tussle over Mexico, and an annual torment in Mexico, where many resent what they see as U.S. meddling in their country's internal affairs. Zedillo sent Interior Minister Francisco Labastida to Washington last week to sway the U.S. administration and Congress. Some members of Congress publicly vowed again to challenge the President's expected certification of Mexico. - --- MAP posted-by: Patrick Henry