News

June 4, 1998

PRESS BRIEFING BY MIKE MCCURRY





                           THE WHITE HOUSE

                    Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                             June 4, 1998     

	     
                         PRESS BRIEFING BY 
                            MIKE MCCURRY 
	     
                        The Briefing Room    			     



3:45 P.M. EDT
	     
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	     Q	  Mexico now says it intends to prosecute U.S. agents 
involved in Operation Casablanca.  Will we extradite those agents if 
requested by Mexico? 

	     MR. MCCURRY:  We have a very good and important and 
useful dialogue with the government of Mexico on that point.  I'm not 
aware that they have taken any steps with respect to that. 

	     Q	  Their attorney general is quoted as saying as much.

	     MR. MCCURRY:  I'm aware of the quote; I'm not aware that 
they have taken any steps that reflect that point of view. 

	     Q	  You mean, you're not aware that they've asked 
specifically?

	     MR. MCCURRY:  I'm not aware that they have taken any 
legal steps to carry out that point of view. 

	     Q	  What would our position be if they do?

	     MR. MCCURRY:  We are working very closely with the them 
to address concerns that they have, but that does not erode the 
fundamental importance that both governments attach to fighting drug 
traffic. 

	     Q	  But would we allow them to actually try our agents 
in Mexico?

	     MR. MCCURRY:  My point is that that's an entirely 
hypothetical question. 

	     Q	  Mike, still on Mexico, the Mexican government also 
mentioned that they are planning to negotiate with the United States 
next week during the bilateral meeting the extradition of these U.S. 
Custom agents.  If the United States want the narco-traffickers to be 
extradited to this country, they have to extradite these U.S. Customs 
agents to Mexico.  And the Foreign Minister of Mexico has just 
announced that, and says he met with Madeleine Albright and told her 
about it.  Are you taking seriously this Mexican question?
	     
	     MR. MCCURRY:  We understand the strong views of the 
government of Mexico on this point, but they are aware of our 
concerns that we've expressed to them.  You're right that Foreign 
Secretary Green has had some dialogue with Secretary Albright on this 
point.  I expect that President Zedillo and President Clinton may 
have an opportunity to get together soon to discuss this and other 
matters.  And you're right, there will be the annual meeting of the 
Binational Commission next week in which always law enforcement 
issues, counter-drug issues, matters like that arise.  So there will 
be a number of venues soon in which we can have appropriate dialogue 
with the government of Mexico on their concerns and talk about our 
common agenda when it comes to fighting drug-trafficking.
	     
	     Q	  How would the two Presidents meet?  Where do you 
anticipate?
	     
	     MR. MCCURRY:  The President, as you know, on Monday is 
going to be addressing the United Nations Drugs Conference, and I 
believe that President Zedillo will be in attendance as well.
	     
	     Q	  You're being very judicious here, but you seem to 
be leaving open the possibility that the U.S. might be willing to see 
its agents extradited.  Do you mean to leave open that possibility?
	     
	     MR. MCCURRY:  I very clearly did not leave open that 
possibility by indicating that there's nothing pending that would 
raise that as an issue as I made quite clear.
	     
	     Q	  You're not willing to say that we explicitly rule 
that out?
	     
	     MR. MCCURRY:  I'm willing to say that we have expressed 
our views very clearly privately to the government of Mexico.
	     
	     Q	  Is it conceivable that we would allow our customs 
agents to be extradited, to be tried in Mexico on this charge?
	     
	     MR. MCCURRY:  I think that I have addressed the question 
in this setting as much as I'm going to address it.
	     
	     Q	  Do you really feel that the Mexico-U.S. relation is 
still the same?  Some Mexican authorities says something is going to 
change -- 
	     
	     MR. MCCURRY:  It is a profoundly important relationship 
and it often weathers moments in which, particularly in Mexico, 
people feel that there is an imbalance.  And we work very hard and 
take very seriously our obligation to meet our obligations to the 
government of Mexico.  And we take seriously the representations that 
the government of Mexico makes to us about the work that they will do 
with us to address concerns that we have on our side of the border. 
	     
	     Let me point to what we referred to earlier -- the 
meeting next week of the Binational Commission.  There is no other 
bilateral relationship we have on Earth in which we have such an 
extensive and broad cooperation across a range of government 
agencies.  It is an important aspect of our relationship.  It's one 
in which we mutually and in equality address the concerns that two 
sovereign nations have.  So we do take it very seriously and we don't 
--
	  



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             END                          3:30 P.M. EDT