Reno Backs Mexico Counterpart

U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno declared Friday that she has “every confidence” in Mexico’s top prosecutor, as she and other U.S. officials sought to quell a controversy over alleged drug corruption that cast a shadow over a high-level meeting here.

The annual talks between members of the two country’s Cabinets occurred just days after U.S. and Mexican media reported that American officials were investigating a top aide to President Ernesto Zedillo as well as a prominent Mexican family, the Hanks, for alleged ties to drug trafficking.

Mexican officials reacted angrily to the reports and said Friday that they had asked the State Department to either deny or provide information about them.

U.S. officials scrambled to play down the accounts and emphasize U.S. cooperation in anti-narcotics work with Mexico, a major transit route for cocaine reaching the United States.

“It is unfair and just plain wrong . . . to make judgments on the basis of fragmented reports,” Reno told a news conference at the end of the two-day meeting. “I have every confidence in the attorney general of Mexico, Jorge Madrazo.”

Referring to a New York Times story citing allegations about Jose Liebano Saenz, Zedillo’s powerful private secretary, Reno added, “I cannot conclude, based on the evidence I know of,” that he was guilty of wrongdoing.

U.S. and Mexican officials blamed a hostile press and unidentified conservative forces in the United States for the newspaper reports. However, the controversy seemed to point up differences within the U.S. government on how to address the Mexican drug threat.

Officially, the Clinton administration maintains its faith in Mexico’s anti-narcotics efforts and insists that the best policy is to cooperate with its neighbor. But some U.S. agencies and officials charge that the Mexican government lacks political will and is crippled by widespread corruption.

U.S. government officials were the source of both stories at the center of the controversy.

The account about the Hank family, a prominent Mexican business and political clan, was based on a secret report by the National Drug Intelligence Center, a U.S. government agency. It alleged that Carlos Hank Gonzalez and his two sons are a “significant criminal threat” to the United States, according to the Washington Post, which obtained a copy of the report.

The Hank family has denied the allegations.

The New York Times reported that U.S. officials questioned the seriousness of a Mexican investigation into Saenz, who functions like a chief of staff for Zedillo. Saenz himself requested the investigation after allegations surfaced that he was tied to drug trafficking. He insists on his innocence.

Mexican officials appeared satisfied Friday that U.S. officials had put to rest the drug allegations. One senior Mexican official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the controversy had dominated an official dinner Thursday but was considered resolved by Friday.

During their meetings, the two sides discussed a wide range of topics, from agriculture to the hundreds of Mexicans who have died attempting to cross the U.S. border in recent years. Such deaths have risen since a U.S. crackdown at popular border crossing points has pushed Mexicans desperate to migrate to attempt to cross broiling deserts or treacherous mountains.

Reno and Mexican Foreign Minister Rosario Green said the two sides are working together to warn potential immigrants of the dangers and to rescue those in jeopardy.

The U.S. delegation that traveled to Mexico for the meetings included Commerce Secretary Bill Daley, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, drug czar Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey and the head of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Doris Meissner. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright had been scheduled to attend but canceled so she could address unfolding events in Yugoslavia.