It Simply Went Much Too Far

Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari finally got it through Washington’s thick skull that he’s very, very angry about the latest twist in the difficult effort between the two countries to cooperate in the drug war.

The flap stems from the arrest of a Mexican citizen suspected of complicity in the 1985 murder of U.S. drug agent Enrique Camarena. Humberto Alvarez Machain, who U.S. authorities allege was present when Camarena was tortured to death by drug lords, was arrested by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents April 3.

The DEA says the arrest took place at the airport in El Paso, Tex. But Alvarez’s attorneys claim he was kidnaped in Mexico and flown to El Paso by bounty hunters paid by DEA--and The Times has found witnesses who verify that story.

U.S. Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh has said that no DEA agents based in Mexico were involved in Alvarez’s abduction, but he’s yet to explain precisely what DEA’s role in the incident was. The delay creates political problems for Salinas, as cooperative a Mexican president as Washington has dealt with.

That’s why Salinas went out of his way on two different occasions last week to tell the U.S. government that he had better start getting some satisfactory answers fast. In a Los Angeles speech Monday, Salinas told his audience the United States would have to respect Mexican laws if it expected Mexico to cooperate in the drug war. Thursday, a meeting between Vice President Dan Quayle and Salinas ran overtime because the Mexican president was lecturing Quayle on the Alvarez incident. Quayle told reporters later he tried to assure Salinas that President Bush “respects the sovereignty of Mexico.”

That’s a good start, but not enough. Thornburgh must go public with everything the Justice Department knows about the Alvarez arrest. If any U.S. officials acted illegally, they must be disciplined. The attorney general must also rethink the new policy that allows U.S. officials to “snatch” criminals wanted in the United States from foreign countries, a dangerous precedent. Would Washington just bite its tongue if foreign agents came here to “snatch” a U.S. citizen they wanted? Besides, the very existence of such a policy feeds the suspicion in Mexico that we will make arrests on their territory when we please and no matter what they think or what their laws say. That’s macho law enforcement, but it’s no way to get cooperation.