Pubdate: 15 Feb 1999
Source: Charleston Gazette (WV)
Contact:  http://www.wvgazette.com/
Forum: CLINTONS HEAD TO MEXICO FOR SUMMIT

MERIDA, Mexico (AP) - In a swift pivot from impeachment, President Clinton
began a quick summit in Mexico Sunday to encourage its struggle against
narcotics and government corruption, and increase its markets for U.S.
products.

The president and his wife were greeted at their sunset arrival by Mexican
President Ernesto Zedillo and his wife Nilda. A military honor guard
saluted the Clintons and four children presented bouquets of flowers.

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

Clinton, traveling abroad 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 U.S. bank to
provide loans to Mexican businesses that buy American goods and services.
He planned to announce the aid today, an administration official said.

The visit - 23 hours from landing to takeoff - comes two weeks before 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 last few years, and officials say this meeting is intended
simply to maintain good relations.

Soon after Air Force One was airborne, Clinton and first lady Hillary
Rodham Clinton appeared in the press cabin of the plane passing out
chocolate candy from a huge heart-shaped box.

"Happy Valentine's Day," the president said. "Isn't this the biggest heart
you ever saw in your life? This is a better kind of heart of darkness." He
did not elaborate.

Clinton and Zedillo are expected to discuss immigration and complete an
agreement on border safety and curbing border violence.

The administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said other
agreements the presidents will sign after their summit today 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 two
nations' airlines.

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

* U.S. training and technical assistance to Mexico's new federal police force.

meant to be a fresh start for the country's long-corrupt law enforcement
system.

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 likely Clinton will certify Mexico
as a cooperative ally in fighting narcotics, as it has been in all 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.

"President Zedillo is clearly trying to establish a clean government and
respect for the rule of law," Sandy Berger, the president's national
security adviser, told reporters.

He said Mexico is confronting its problem of government corruption "with
remarkable candor."

"Indeed, much of what we know and much of what troubles us about the extent
of corruption in the Mexican law-enforcement effort has emerged from
Mexico's own efforts to uproot it," Berger said. "And that's something we
need to acknowledge and encourage."

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

Mexico blames the United States for much of its drug problem, because
Americans are the world's biggest buyers of illicit narcotics. Yet, in
hopes of winning certification, Mexico announced a $400 million "total war"
Feb. 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 frictions 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,
known as NAFTA.

Mexico has emerged as the second largest foreign market for U.S. exports,
after Canada. It eclipses even Japan, Berger 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 last five years.

"So it's worth remembering that our trade relationship with Mexico has
protected a lot of American workers from losing their jobs at a time of
tremendous uncertainty and upheaval in the global economy," Berger said. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Mike Gogulski