Albright Signals Mexico Will Clear Drug Hurdle

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright hinted Sunday that Mexico will soon get official U.S. certification for its anti-drug efforts, meeting an annual requirement that continues to be a divisive issue between the two neighbors.

“It is inappropriate to make predictions,” Albright said when asked about the matter at a joint news conference here with Mexican Foreign Minister Rosario Green.

“But . . . the level of cooperation has been very good,” she said. “We have had a lot of discussions on this. We will continue to have a lot of discussion on this.” Albright said she believes that Mexican officials “view the problem of drugs as seriously as we do.”

Albright spent the last day of a three-day Latin American visit in this picturesque southern Mexican city, where she endeavored to reinforce the improved U.S.-Mexican ties that have emerged during the concurrent presidencies of Bill Clinton and Ernesto Zedillo.

Under U.S. law, the White House must certify each year that Mexico--as well as other countries--is making serious efforts to attack the problem of illegal drug trafficking. President Clinton is expected to make his next formal decision on the delicate matter around late February.

A denial of certification would greatly embarrass the political leadership of Mexico, where there is widespread evidence of police corruption and chronic difficulties in combating drug criminals. Penalties for failing to receive certification would include a cutoff in U.S. aid, other than counter-narcotics assistance, and U.S. opposition to Mexican aid at international financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Albright will make a recommendation to Clinton before he makes the decision.

“It obviously has its own timetable,” Albright said of certification. “I think it is very evident that the [Mexican] cooperation on narco-traffickers is on a very good level.”

Green, Albright’s Mexican counterpart, agreed that the two nations are cooperating to combat illegal drugs and said, “We seek to eliminate this cancer at the beginning of this century.”

The reality that national administrations in Washington and Mexico City have entered lame-duck stages was much on the minds of Albright and Green, who have held 10 individual meetings in recent years to discuss matters ranging from drugs to immigration to the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Clearly, the U.S. and Mexico remain divided by difficult issues, including Washington’s refusal to allow Mexican truckers north of the border, a ban that Mexican officials say violates NAFTA’s terms.

Still, the two nations’ top diplomats each expressed wishes Sunday that strong ties between the traditionally wary neighbors will be maintained in the future.

Albright said she was struck by the spectacle of the ancient ruins of Monte Alban, which she had visited early Sunday. The leaders of the United States and Mexico are leaving their own legacy for the future, she maintained, expressing hope that one day people will look back on the Clinton and Zedillo administrations as “a turning point in U.S.-Mexican relations.”

“We’ve gone a long way in making this work--and we want to make sure that it lasts,” Albright said.