Spanish/Nat The U-S decision to recertify Mexico's scandal-ridden anti-drug programme on Friday will smooth relations between the neighbouring countries on the contentious issue according to the Mexican ambassador to the U-S. U-S President Clinton recertified Mexico as a fully cooperating ally deserving of aid in the struggle against narcotics smuggling. Jesus Silva Herzog said the decision was a recognition that no country, regardless of its importance or power, can act alone to fight the drug war. The Mexican Ambassador to the U-S, Jesus Silva Herzog, welcomed the announcement by the Clinton administration to recertify Mexico's anti-drug programme. The decision will earn Mexico another year of U-S anti-drug aid and support in international forums. Herzog told Associated Press Television that it was recognition of the international effort needed to fight drug trafficking. SOUNDBITE:(Spanish) "I believe we can say that it represents a recognition of an effort that Mexico has been making for years, but particularly in the last 12 months. It is also a recognition of President Zedillo's political conviction to combat the traffic of drugs and for confronting the phenomenon of corruption which has been affecting Mexico for a long time. It is also a recognition that no country, regardless of its importance or power, can act alone to fight this phenomenon. It is precisely cooperation what we need among nations." SUPER CAPTION: Jesus Silva Herzog, Mexico's Ambassador to the U-S However, the Mexican Ambassador reiterated his government's concern with the process of certification. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) " We have expressed our opinion in public on several occasions. It seems to us that it is difficult to understand how the most important consuming nation in the world stands up as a judge to evaluate the actions that other countries carry out in the war on drugs. It seems to us also that in essence we need to find mechanisms which stimulate, not hold back, cooperation. It is therefore that we think we can find formulas to try to work closer and in more coordination to face a problem with global dimensions and which affect all the nations involved equally; producing nations, transit nations and consuming nations. We are facing a Mafia which each day designs new methods of distribution and invents new kinds of drugs such as the ones now being made from chemical derivatives. We need to work more and better for the only way to succeed is by doing it together. " SUPER CAPTION: Jesus Silva Herzog, Mexico's Ambassador to the U-S Herzog also said the recertification by the White House showed Mexico's efforts to crack down on drugs were being appreciated. SOUNDBITE:(Spanish) "The relations between Mexico and the United States are very complex, extensive and diversified. I think that the fact that Mexico's efforts have been recognized is simply, or are based on the facts, on what Mexico did during the last year in its war on drugs. The establishment of a high-level contact group, the advances in eradication, in arrests, in the passing of new laws to combat money laundering and to combat organized crime are deeds very fundamental, upon which great advances were achieved last year and I think that the judgement and the recognition expressed this afternoon by the White House through the State Department are fundamentally based on those facts." SUPER CAPTION: Jesus Silva Herzog, Mexico's Ambassador to the U-S The recertification also benefits the United States in its war on drugs - statistics from the Drug Enforcement Administration show that an estimated 70 percent of all cocaine entering the United States comes from Mexico. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/1c8ca918ddb347ec9c1efdd37d80fcf0 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

• published: 21 Jul 2015
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