In the end, the White House decided to recertify Mexico's drug program despite the Gutierrez scandal, apparently on the theory that to deny the government of President Ernesto Zedillo recertification would do more harm than good. It was probably the right decision.
Mexico's ambassador had said decertification would have been "a slap in the face" that would have made further cooperation difficult. President Clinton considered it a plus that Zedillo had moved against Gutierrez promptly while Mexico's recertification hung in the balance.
This was a reasonably close call, however. Forty senators signed a letter to Clinton urging decertification. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who initiated the letter, said she would submit a resolution to overturn the decision. She complained that "There has been no serious effort to crack down on the Tijuana, Juarez and Sonora cartels, or to arrest their leaders."
This is one of those situations in which Congress has complicated the conduct of foreign policy by imposing conditions that are awkward to administer. The annual drug certification review forces the administration to make judgments in public that may be counterproductive. A public humiliation is not always the best way to get results.
Last week 39 Chinese nationals who had been held since their ship ran aground in 1993 were released from detention in York, Pa. They are seeking political asylum. The influx from China is only a small part of the total problem of illegal immigration, but with the largest population of any country, millions of whom are still impoverished, China could be a virtually inexhaustible source.
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