De la Madrid Defends Mexico’s Drug Efforts

Firing another volley in the continuing war of words over control of international drug traffic, Mexico’s President Miguel de la Madrid on Monday accused foreign critics of underestimating Mexico’s battle against narcotics.

In his annual state-of-the-nation speech, De la Madrid said: “Mexico is allocating a growing volume of human and material resources to the fight against drug trafficking. Nevertheless, we have been subjected to a number of pressures from abroad; it has been said that the action we have been taking has not been sufficiently effective in combatting this crime--without any recognition that the activities taken by the Mexican government are increasing and proportionately superior to other countries.”

No Critics Named

Although De la Madrid mentioned no critics by name, officials in the United States have, in recent months, scolded Mexico for failing to dent the volume of drugs being smuggled into the United States from across its southern border and for tolerating drug-related corruption.

The tone of attacks and counterattacks over Mexico’s willingness and ability to combat drug traffic reached a high pitch in recent weeks after U.S. officials accused police in Guadalajara of beating and torturing U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Victor Cortez Jr.

Since the Cortez incident, some Mexican officials have complained that the presence of about 30 DEA officials in Mexico is a nuisance and that the country’s own police officials are adequate to combat drug smuggling. Eleven Jalisco state police have been charged with beating Cortez, but the Mexican government has rejected suggestions that he was subjected to torture such as electric shocks.

Conduit for Cocaine

De la Madrid did not mention the Cortez affair but asserted that Mexico’s armed forces are engaged in 18 simultaneous drug eradication operations. Mexico grows large quantities of marijuana and opium poppies, the source of heroin, and often serves as a conduit for the movement of cocaine from South America into the United States.

“In this struggle, the Mexican people pay with their lives,” De la Madrid said. Over the years, he said, 392 Mexican soldiers have died in confrontations with drug traffickers; in 1985 alone, he said, 10 federal policemen were killed.

In Mexico, the state-of-the-nation report traditionally covers a wide range of topics--from foreign affairs to the condition of the Mexico City subway system. This year’s message was the fourth of De la Madrid’s six-year term. He delivered the 3 1/2-hour speech to Mexico’s Congress, whose members gave him a standing ovation at the end.

Boycott by Opposition

The political opposition, the 41 legislative members of the National Action Party, boycotted the president’s speech to protest alleged electoral fraud in state elections this summer, party spokesman Gonzalo Altamirano said.

In some ways, this year’s speech was more notable for what was left out than what was said.

De la Madrid did not characterize current relations with the United States, although early in his speech, he spoke of “pressures, criticism, incomprehension and hostile scrutiny from abroad.” The source of these brickbats, observers here said, could only be the United States.

The Mexican president, draped with his red-white-and-green sash of office, also asserted that his government will “stand firm in the fight against inflation.” Despite offering up a flood of statistics in other areas, De la Madrid avoided mentioning that prices are expected to double this year in comparison with 1985.

Oil Price Drop Blamed

He blamed Mexico’s current economic malaise on falling prices of oil, the country’s main export, and said Mexico’s economy would be growing were it not for the decline in oil prices. As he has often said during the past few months, De la Madrid promised that the Mexican economy will rebound next year.

He said the government’s programs had been based on a price of $22.50 per barrel of exported Mexican oil, but the price has fallen below $15. About two-thirds of Mexico’s export revenue comes from petroleum.

Recent negotiations for restructuring and increasing Mexico’s foreign debt were concluded successfully, De la Madrid contended, because foreign lenders recognized “the significant advances of previous years” in the government’s belt-tightening policies. He did not note that commercial banks are resisting making new loans to Mexico.

De la Madrid appeared to rule out, as he did in his speech last year, canceling the nearly $100-billion foreign debt. The burden of payments continually saps the national treasury.

‘Non-Confrontational Approach’

“We have taken and shall continue to take a non-confrontational approach, one that recognizes joint responsibility for the generation of the debt problem as well as the need for payment terms that are in line with our capacity to permit growth,” he said.

De la Madrid repeated what is becoming perhaps the major theme of his administration: that for all of Mexico’s problems--troubles that have included falling oil prices, inflation, unemployment and a major earthquake a year ago--the country has not fallen into chaos.

“We Mexicans have not succumbed to the temptation of upsetting work on political pretexts nor of restricting freedoms on the pretext of crisis,” he said.

In recognition that he is entering the last third of his term, a time when political infighting over succession to the presidency usually overwhelms government action, De la Madrid promised to avoid frittering away his last two years.

“The government will continue to work intensively up to the last day of its mandate,” he declared.