Clinton Offers Aid to Bolster Mexico Image : Reaction: Law enforcement help and economic assistance made available.

The Clinton Administration offered Mexico limited law enforcement and economic help Thursday and sought to dispel doubts about the country’s stability after the assassination of its leading presidential candidate, Luis Donaldo Colosio.

President Clinton said he had asked Treasury officials to intervene in foreign currency markets to bolster the Mexican peso, if necessary, but there was no indication Thursday that the U.S. help would be needed.

Meanwhile, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms provided backup assistance to Mexican authorities in tracing the weapon that was used in the assassination and was found to have had a previous owner in San Francisco.

U.S. officials said it was not immediately clear what else the United States could do, at least in the short run.

But the push to maintain global confidence in Mexico is important. Without it, the value of the peso could plunge, and foreign investment could grind to a halt with a major impact on the Mexican economy that could worsen political tensions in the country.

Clinton led a spate of senior Administration officials in expressing condolences to the Mexican government and in publicly asserting confidence that stability in Mexico will continue despite Wednesday’s assassination.

“I think things will settle down,” the President told reporters in an impromptu news conference Thursday morning. “I think, fundamentally, they’re in sound shape. And I hope that will be the case. We’ll have to wait and see what happens tomorrow.”

“We think they have a great future,” he told another press conference later Thursday. “And we don’t expect any long-term damage to come from this terrible personal tragedy and political setback.”

At the same time, other officials sought to dampen speculation that the assassination might prompt a change in U.S.-Mexican relations or impede Mexico’s announced governmental reforms or the newly completed North American Free Trade Agreement.

“The Mexican government remains fully stable,” State Department spokesman Mike McCurry said. “Our view is that the tragic event yesterday certainly does not impair the growing trade relationship we have with Mexico” or diminish economic opportunities there.

Senior U.S. policy-makers said that, despite the stunning nature of Wednesday’s attack, there is no evidence that the killing was part of an attempted coup.

As a result, they said, they expect no major policy changes that would affect Mexican-U.S. relations.

U.S. officials also dismissed suggestions that Colosio’s death might leave Mexico with no qualified successor to carry on the reforms of outgoing Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari.

Although Colosio was highly regarded by the United States, the officials said that Salinas has surrounded himself with other sophisticated officials and is likely to replace Colosio with another candidate who has been molded in his own image.

Even so, some analysts worried privately that the assassination might trigger new instability and threaten some reforms, particularly in the wake of the uprising by peasants in the southern state of Chiapas in January.

Clinton said that he called Salinas after the assassination and had an “entirely personal” conversation.

Atty. Gen. Janet Reno also called her Mexican counterpart. And several Cabinet officers expressed their condolences.

Earlier, in a written statement, the President said: “I deeply deplore this senseless act of violence and have conveyed my deepest sympathies to the Mexican people and to the family of Mr. Colosio, his wife and two young children.

“It is particularly tragic when an assassin’s bullet slays a man who still had so much to contribute to history,” Clinton said. “It is a great loss not only for Mexico but for all of North America.”

Separately, the Organization of American States met on Thursday and condemned Colosio’s assassination.

Colosio “had committed himself to revitalizing democratic institutions . . . through dialogue, consensus, concord and above all peace,” the 34-nation group said in a statement.

Hattie Babbitt, the U.S. ambassador to the OAS and president of the OAS Permanent Council, called the special meeting to “show hemispheric concern for the tragic events in Mexico.”

“The fundamental raison d’etre of the OAS is to be supportive of representative democracy,” she said. “To have a candidate in a race assassinated is a special affront to the solidarity the countries of the hemisphere are now expressing” for democracy.

Reno declined to comment on whether investigators had found links between the suspected assassin and criminal activities in the United States. But other U.S. authorities said they know of no link between the suspected assassin and narcotics trafficking in Mexico.

The Tense Day After

The assassination of Luis Donaldo Colosio is a stunning blow to a nation in search of political stability and economic growth. President Carlos Salinas de Gortari declared Thursday a national day of mourning.

“Man of the Border”: Colosio, who called himself “man of the border,” was born and raised in Magdalena de Kino in Sonora.

Victim: Colosio’s body was taken to party headquarters in Mexico City, where Salinas stood at attention beside a coffin draped with a white cloth bearing the red, white and green party symbol.

Suspect: Assassination suspect lived northeast of downtown but grew up in Zamora, Michoacan.

Shooting Site: Residents gathered Thursday at the spot where Colosio was shot.

Closed for day of mourning: Stock market, Banks, Government offices

Another Setback: Colosio’s death comes on the heels of a peasant uprising in Mexico’s southern state of Chiapas on New Year’s Day during which 145 people were killed, adding to a newly acquired image of violence after many decades of calm.