Mexican Diplomat to Visit U.S.

Mexican Foreign Secretary Bernardo Sepulveda will visit Washington on Monday to discuss with Secretary of State George P. Shultz the increasing tensions between the two countries over the murder of a drug enforcement agent.

State Department spokesman Edward Djerejian, who announced Friday that the meeting was scheduled, declined to spell out the subject of the talks. But he said, “I think you can assume that the subjects that have been in the news will certainly be on the agenda.”

Another State Department official said later that the visit was decided upon last month when President Reagan spoke by telephone with President Miguel de la Madrid of Mexico shortly after Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique S. Camarena was kidnaped in Guadalajara. The official declined to say which president suggested the meeting.

The session could prove to be an acrimonious one. Shultz said Thursday that American patience had been exhausted by the failure of the Mexican government to crack down on drug dealers like the ones believed to have been responsible for kidnaping, beating and killing Camarena.

Tolerance Level

“Our level of tolerance has been exceeded,” Shultz told a Senate subcommittee.

Djerejian said Friday, “Let me assure you that we have every intention of seeing that the murderers of agent Camarena are found and prosecuted.”

Djerejian sought to soften somewhat the implicit criticism of the Mexican authorities by saying that U.S. anger is directed primarily at drug dealers.

“The secretary supports the need for firm measures against the (drug) traffickers, but he does not believe that retaliatory actions directed against the Mexican government are effective or appropriate,” Djerejian said. “He said we would be working closely and cooperatively with the Mexican government to secure a more effective effort against the traffickers.” But other government officials said that the United States wants better results from Mexican law enforcement and is far from satisfied with the Mexican effort so far.