Deukmejian Assured by Mexico President of Support in Drug War

Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari assured Gov. George Deukmejian on Thursday that he is totally committed to waging war on drug smugglers. But he also asked Deukmejian to help stop the exploitation of Mexicans in California.

“He said he wants to make life miserable for drug traffickers,” Deukmejian told reporters after the 40-minute meeting in Salinas’ office at Los Pinos, the pesident’s official residence. “He made it unquestionably clear he wants to get rid of anyone who is engaged in this type of activity. . . . He’d like to arrest them (and) get them out of the country.”

A Deukmejian aide, who sat in on the meeting, quickly added: “He just hopes they won’t go to the States.”

Governor’s Statement

The governor said Salinas did not cite examples of Mexican immigrants being exploited, but added: “We know that sometimes individuals are required to pay rather large, exorbitant amounts of money to help them cross the border illegally. Many times they become victims of crime.

“They are assaulted. They are attacked. They are robbed. That has happened very frequently. Sometimes when they are on the U.S. side of the border, because they’re there illegally, they’re taken advantage of by unscrupulous business employers. They cannot express their outrage, because they know they would be immediately deported if it became known they were there illegally.”

Deukmejian, the son of Armenian immigrants who often speaks proudly of California’s ethnic diversity, told the Mexican president that he will cooperate in any way he can to alleviate exploitation, which they agreed occurs on both sides of the border.

Salinas, 40, a Harvard-trained economist who took office Dec. 1, raised the issues of drugs and exploitation after Deukmejian had completed his agenda of trade talk. The governor, who opened a California trade office here Wednesday, praised Salinas for moving toward free trade policies that he likened to his own and President Bush’s.

On drugs, Deukmejian said Salinas “made it very clear he is strongly opposed to illegal drug trafficking that is present in Mexico. . . . He thinks it’s very harmful for people in Mexico. It’s bad for their health, and it leads to a lot of corruption.”

While some American officials have criticized certain of Salinas’ appointees to top police posts and suggested that the president’s anti-drug campaign is largely one of rhetoric, Deukmejian said he believes Salinas is sincere.

The governor reported that the president told him of several “very major, significant steps”--all verified by U.S. Ambassador Charles Pilliod--being taken to battle drug traffickers: Establishment of a 1,000-member drug investigative unit, a 169% budget increase for anti-drug efforts and commitment of 93 helicopters and airplanes to hunt down smugglers and destroy opium and marijuana crops. Thousands of military personnel are also involved in the effort.

The Mexican president has also proposed stiffer sentences for convicted drug traffickers, the governor said.

Salinas suggested that it might be better for Mexican authorities to deal directly with California law enforcement rather than concentrating their efforts with U.S. officials, Deukmejian reported. Pilliod, who attended the meeting, responded diplomatically that there should be as much cooperation as possible among all government levels--local, state and federal.

“What all of us really said is perhaps we should be considering some means of getting federal officials in Mexico together with our state narcotics people and federal people to see what steps can be taken to make our efforts more effective,” Deukmejian asserted.

He lamented that Americans are not aware of Salinas’ aggressive anti-drug program, declaring too many U.S. politicians prefer to blame Mexico for America’s drug woes. He acknowledged to the Mexican president that the United States must do more to reduce demand for narcotics and noted that he has proposed a school anti-drug program beginning in the first grade.

After his meeting with Salinas, Deukmejian met with Mexican Foreign Minister Fernando Solana Morales and went over much of the same ground.

Then he headed north through thunderstorms, sandstorms and dense fog to Saltillo, an isolated desert city roughly 300 miles southwest of San Antonio, for a conference of border-state governors from both countries.

During his two-day visit to Mexico City, Deukmejian repeatedly emphasized that California’s relationship with this struggling nation “goes far beyond trade. . . . We share history, culture and language.”

Potent Voter Bloc

One-quarter of California’s population is Latino, and the percentage is growing steadily as refugees flee economic stagnation in Mexico and civil war in Central America. This is a potentially potent voter bloc that Republicans--in fits and starts, but mostly awkwardly--have tried without much success to woo away from Democrats.

There was no partisan political talk by the Republican governor here, but he and his official delegation obviously regarded the trip and their opening of a state trade office in Mexico City as important symbols not only to the Mexicans but to California’s Latinos.