BY BRIAN TAYLOR
U.S. president William Clinton and several other top U.S. officials used a May 5-7 visit to Mexico to push Washington's economic, political, and military domination of that country.

In what they cited as the high point of their talks, Clinton and Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo signed a "Declaration of the Mexican-U.S. Alliance Against Drugs." The declaration came two months after the U.S. Congress voted to "decertify" Mexico as cooperative in the so-called war on drugs, sparking outrage among many in Mexico. The declaration largely restates previous positions of the two governments.

Clinton sought to get agreement for the "hot pursuit" of alleged drug traffickers, which would make it legal for U.S. cops to penetrate sovereign Mexican territory, as well as authorization for U.S. agents to carry guns inside Mexico. While Zedillo formally refused those requests, the Washington Post states that "U.S. officials privately said that they reached a wink-and-nod agreement that the ban will not be vigorously enforced."

U.S. officials told the Mexican government they would send 50 helicopters and four C-26 surveillance aircraft for "antinarcotic purposes." U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright, who took part in the talks, also offered Mexico City $6 million to pay for the training of new Mexican antinarcotics group. The Mexican attorney general said he would consider the offer.

U.S. and Mexican officials presented a package of trade pacts under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) May 6. These included lifting a Mexican ban on Florida citrus and U.S. restrictions on wheat and pork imports. The volume of trade between the two countries is nearly $150 billion a year, up 37 percent since 1994.

Before leaving Washington for Mexico as part of the delegation, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin declared, "NAFTA really proved its mettle during [Mexico's financial] crisis." When the peso collapsed at the end of 1994, the White House put together a "bailout" package that included a $12.5 billion loan, which has since been repaid with interest. Rubin took the opportunity to once again brag that Washington made "a substantial profit on that loan." The U.S. rulers have praised Zedillo as the savior of the Mexican economy for paying off the loan, selling off state-owned industries, and opening them up for foreign investment.

But working people have been squeezed even tighter. Workers suffered a roughly 35 percent drop in wages in the wake of the peso crisis, and the Zedillo government has imposed a range of austerity measures. These include recently renewed wage controls that are less than projected inflation.

Over the last year there have been strikes by sugar workers, teachers, and others; various peasant struggles, and guerrilla actions by the Zapatista National Liberation Front and the People's Revolutionary Army. One recent reflection of the climate of resistance can be seen from the May Day demonstrations that took place there. Organized by independent unions, protesters demanded wage increases, condemned the government's austerity drive, called for an end to repression of peasants in the state of Chiapas, and protested the upcoming Clinton tour. The pro-government union refused to organize marches on this international workers' holiday to avert any possibility of mass expressions of discontent.

Throughout the tour, Clinton feigned respect for Mexican independence and even spoke a few mangled words of Spanish. Everywhere he went, Clinton was met with small-scale demonstrations. An urban squatters' protest in front of the U.S. embassy was the first to greet Clinton and his aides. They were protesting Zedillo's decision to have Clinton's tour begin on May 5, Mexican independence day. Another demonstration of 600 teachers - many of them indigenous people from some of the poorest regions -attempted to march past the embassy, but were blocked by local cops. They chanted, "Clinton, you stole from the peoples of the world. You are not welcome."

In a formal address May 7, Clinton tried to defend Washington's new immigration restrictions, which are very unpopular among working people in Mexico. "We must also take effective action to stop illegal immigration," he stated. "Just as those who obey our laws are welcome, those who break them must face the consequences."

For the first time in U.S. presidential history, Clinton met with two main opposition parties for 15 minutes each. Felipe Calderón of the National Action Party (PAN), and Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the Revolutionary Democratic Party both tried to convince Clinton of their potential to bring about "stable political change" in Mexico.

Following his visit to Mexico, Clinton visited Costa Rica and Barbados. There he refused to back off the U.S. government's opposition to European trade rules that favor Caribbean banana exports. Washington recently won a World Trade Organization ruling against its European rivals on this question. Clinton also rejected calls by many governments in the region for "NAFTA parity," that is better trading status with the United States. The U.S. president signed treaties with the governments of Barbados and Jamaica that would allow U.S. cops access to their territorial waters and airspace in the name of fighting drug trafficking.  
 
 
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