COLIN POWELL MEETS MEXICAN COUNTERPART IN WASHINGTON

New U.S. Policies Attempt To Strengthen Ties With Mexico

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Colin Powell and Mexico's secretary of
foreign relations, Jorge Castaneda, agreed Tuesday to support a peaceful
settlement between the Colombian government and rebel forces, but they
differed over U.S. insistence on strict sanctions on Cuba.

Meeting two weeks before President Bush, in his first foreign trip as
president, will visit Mexican President Vicente Fox, Powell and Castaneda
also agreed to work toward reducing the number of deaths along the
U.S.-Mexico border.

``The message sent by President Bush . . . by having decided to take his
first trip abroad to Mexico . . . to visit President Fox in his home town
is a message that is being very, very well received in Mexico and
throughout Latin America,'' Castaneda said.

Meanwhile, members of Congress acted to remove an irritant in U.S.-Mexican
relations. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said he would introduce a
measure to suspend the annual certification process under which the United
States is required to assess Mexico's performance in combating drug
trafficking. The proposal will be co-sponsored by Sens. Chuck Hagel,
R-Neb.; John McCain, R-Ariz.; and Ernest Hollings, D-S.C.

The main note of discord between Powell and his Mexican counterpart came on
Cuba. Powell said the Bush administration wants to retain the sanctions,
while Castaneda said Mexico would strengthen economic and financial ties
with Cuba.

Powell said: ``We will continue to pursue our relations with Cuba in a way
that lets Mr. Castro know that we disapprove of his regime. . . . We will
only participate in those activities with Cuba that benefit the people
directly and not the government.''

Dodd's measure on drug certification not only addresses a Mexican concern
about U.S. foreign policy but also responds to a request Powell made during
his Senate confirmation hearings to reduce the number of sanctions and
certifications. Under the process, U.S. economic sanctions against Mexico
are imposed if it is not certified.

Congress mandated the annual drug certification procedure for Mexico in
1986, the year after corrupt Mexican officials played a role in the torture
and killing of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency agent. Concerns have
continued about drug trafficking and corruption in Mexico, a major point
for shipping illegal narcotics to the United States.

According to the State Department, Mexican authorities have seized a record
amount of drugs over the past few years. Marijuana and heroin seizures in
2000 increased by 50 percent and 61 percent, respectively, while cocaine
seizures were 34 percent lower than the previous year.

Powell and Castaneda also discussed the deaths of Mexicans who try to cross
illegally into the United States. ``There are too many Mexicans dying on
the border, Mexicans who die of exposure, dehydration, starvation -- some,
unfortunately, who die as a result of hostile acts on the part of some,''
Castaneda said.

Powell said it is important to ease border tensions, since more than a
million people cross the border daily to work, study and visit, and since
Mexico has grown into the second largest trading partner of the United
States, after Canada.

But ``the thing that really has to be done to solve this problem is to
continue to help the Mexican economy grow, so that jobs are in the South,
so that the great magnet is no longer just in the North, but it is also
within Mexico,'' Powell said.

Powell and Castaneda agreed on support for Colombian negotiations to end
rebel fighting and curtail the illicit drug business there. Powell
reaffirmed the Bush administration's support of Plan Colombia, a Clinton
administration plan to provide $1.3 billion in U.S. support for building
the Colombian military and introducing spraying and crop substitution
programs to erode narcotics trafficking.