http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/nation/97/11/13/clintonzedillo.20.html

Zedillo in Washington for talks on curbing illegal guns, drugs
By NANCY MATHIS

WASHINGTON Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, growing increasingly vocal
about the United States role in his nation's rising crime rates, will arrive
here today for a two day session with members of Congress and President
Clinton.

On Friday, Zedillo and Clinton will be among officials of the Organization
of American States who will sign an agreement to combat gun smuggling in
this hemisphere, an accord proposed by Mexico to curb arms trafficking from
the United States.

The agreement would bar the transport of unlicensed or unmarked weapons
between countries, provide for mutual legal assistance, training and
increased contacts between nations.

Zedillo and Clinton last met in May when the U.S. president made his first
visit to Mexico. The issue of drug trafficking topped the agenda. Mexico has
emerged as the major route for cocaine into the United States, and some
lawmakers attempted to place sanctions on the country, accusing it of not
cooperating fully.

"Arms trafficking is a mirror image, in a way, of drug trafficking. There is
a flow of drugs in one direction, and there are flows of arms in the other
direction," said Jesus ReyesHeroles, Mexico's new ambassador to the United
States.

ReyesHeroles called the OAS accord "very important for Mexico and for the
U.S."

Zedillo's session with members of Congress today still was being worked out
because Congress is trying to adjourn and faces a hectic schedule.

However, ReyesHeroles said Zedillo will again press lawmakers to drop the
certification process that requires the State Department to affirm a
nation's cooperation on drug trafficking. Zedillo's government was
embarrassed earlier this year by the arrest of its top drug czar and reports
of rampant corruption among law enforcement authorities.

"The certification is counterproductive to that spirit of cooperation and
coordination that is essential to have an effective war on drugs," the
ambassador said.

ReyesHeroles also dismissed questions about Zedillo's comments last month
that the United States should reimburse Mexico for the damage done by drug
trafficking to supply the large demand in the United States.

"The president's point was basically that it made as much sense for the U.S.
to certify Mexico as for Mexico to ask for reparations," he said. "He was
trying to just say, well, it really doesn't make any sense, any of the two
things."

ReyesHeroles also maintained that Mexico does intend to extradite the drug
traffickers wanted by the United States.

Larry Birns, director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, said Zedillo
and Clinton meet at a time when both are in weakened positions. Zedillo's
image has been tarnished by a series of scandals involving his government
while Clinton's image took a hit from the failure to gain congressional
approval for more streamlined trade negotiation powers, he said.

There is little of significance on the agenda between the two leaders during
this visit, Birns said, although they will sign the OAS accord.

"The United States has been accusing Mexico of sending drugs up here, and
the Mexicans have been accusing the United States of unregulated volumes of
guns producing unprecedented levels of crime, and many of these weapons end
up with the country's two revolutionary movements," Birns said.