Won’t Kidnap Any Mexicans, U.S. Pledges

After two weeks of intense bilateral negotiations, the U.S. government said it would no longer kidnap Mexican citizens but refused to back up its pledge with any legal guarantees, officials from both countries said Wednesday night.

The Bush Administration also has denied the Mexican government’s request to extradite Dr. Humberto Alvarez Machain, the gynecologist abducted from Guadalajara in 1990 to stand trial in the United States in the killing of an American drug agent.

The U.S. government decisions are yet another political blow to President Carlos Salinas de Gortari. On June 15, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Alvarez Machain could be tried in federal court for his alleged role in the 1985 murder of U.S. drug agent Enrique S. Camarena.

The court said Alvarez Machain’s kidnaping--arranged by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration--was legal because it was not explicitly prohibited by the bilateral extradition treaty.

In response, Mexico demanded an amendment to the treaty that would ban kidnaping across borders. U.S. officials, however, said they did not want to set a precedent for the 102 countries with which the United States has extradition treaties.

“This has international implications,” U.S. Ambassador John D. Negroponte told a press conference. “There can be extreme or extraordinarily difficult situations in other parts of the world where perhaps we don’t want to give up this possibility (of kidnaping).”

Negroponte said President Bush sent a letter to Salinas vowing that his Administration “will not conduct, promote or allow kidnapings” in the future.

“My government fully recognizes that success in the war against drug trafficking requires international collaboration. We also recognize that unilateral acts can provoke controversial and counterproductive situations,” Negroponte said.

He said the two sides would review the extradition pact at a meeting in the fall.