Clinton, Zedillo Stress Positive Relations Presidents Sign Agreements On Drugs, Illegal Migration

On a day full of pomp and optimism, President Clinton and Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo on Tuesday signed two key agreements - one promising a shared strategy in the war on drugs by the end of the year and another pledging to reduce the vexing problems of crime and illegal migration along the 2,000-mile border the two countries share.

Despite recent tensions between the two nations over immigration, drugs and other cross-border problems, the presidents stressed the positive developments in the relationship and declared a new era of collaboration in the drug war.

“I believe that this government is trying to work with us,” Clinton said at a news conference on the grounds of Los Pinos, the presidential palace. “And I believe that the chances of our succeeding in dealing with our problems, and the chances of their succeeding in dealing with their problems, are dramatically heightened if we work together.”

There were plenty of festivities on the first full day of Clinton’s state visit to this capital - his first, and the first by any U.S. president in almost two decades. In the morning, he and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton were welcomed with a 21-cannon salute and a parade with marching honor guards, horses pulling antique artillery and bands playing both national anthems. Evening events included an elaborate state dinner.

Clinton and his host heaped compliments on each other. Zedillo acclaimed Clinton as a “good friend” of Mexico; Clinton returned the praise, calling Zedillo a “trusted friend” and admiring his “bold leadership.”

Clinton’s trip to Mexico is the highlight of a weeklong Latin America tour, which will include a summit with Central American leaders in Costa Rica and a conference with Caribbean leaders in Barbados. Mexico, a back-burner foreign policy concern during the Cold War, has emerged as one of the United States’ most important foreign policy priorities.

Demonstrating how integral relations between the United States and Mexico have become, Clinton was accompanied in Mexico City by most members of his Cabinet, who arrived Monday to work with their Mexican counterparts on issues including the environment, trade and bridge building.

“No two countries are working together on more important issues, with a more direct effect on the lives of their people than Mexico and the United States,” Clinton said.

Mexican Foreign Minister Jose Angel Gurria stressed during a high-level meeting Tuesday that relations between Mexico and the United States have changed from “aloofness to commitment.”

At a news conference later, Gurria noted: “There have never been high-level written documents by the presidents of Mexico and the United States on the themes of drugs and immigration in which both leaders had set out their philosophies.”

The central issue Tuesday was clearly the two nations’ efforts to work together against the flow of illegal drugs across the border. The United States is the largest illegal drug market in the world - consuming $49 billion a year - and many of those drugs pass through Mexico.

The leaders accepted a report assessing the drug threat to both nations and signed a document declaring a new “Mexican/U.S. alliance against drugs.” The report included a concession by the U.S. that the United States is the largest source of illegal arms shipments to Mexico.

Clinton and Zedillo also ordered their respective Cabinets to devise a common counter-drug strategy, including implementation plans that are mutually reinforcing.

“Mexico and the United States now have a shared vision of the magnitude of the problem, and we share the will to combat the problem with all the resources within our reach,” Zedillo said at the news conference.

The countries’ anti-drug collaboration hit a rough spot earlier this year when Mexican drug czar Jose de Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo was arrested for alleged links to drug traffickers. That complicated the annual process by which the United States certifies whether Mexico is cooperating in the war against drugs. In the end, Clinton certified Mexico, arguing that Zedillo and other leaders here are committed to working with the Americans.

A contentious issue between the two countries has been a dispute over whether U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents can carry arms in Mexico. Both Zedillo and U.S. officials said the disagreement had been resolved and the security of law-enforcement personnel on both sides will be ensured. Mexico opposes the arming of U.S. agents on its turf as a violation of its sovereignty; both sides refused to specify the mechanics of the agreement.

Mexican Attorney General Jorge Madrazo Cuellar said later that his office is studying ways to provide security to the U.S. agents without violating Mexican sovereignty.

Madrazo stressed that while the meetings were full of promise, much work remains to accomplish the lofty goals. “This isn’t magic,” he said later. “But no one said this was a magical visit.”

Later in the day, Clinton met with several opposition political figures - the first time a visiting U.S. head of state has had such an opportunity here. Mexico is in political transition to democracy after nearly seven decades of one-party rule. Clinton said he arranged the meeting “because we support the political reform process in Mexico.”