Lawmaker says countrymen used as targets for paintball-like projectiles that substitute for bullets.

The Associated Press

MEXICO CITY - Mexican and U.S. diplomats held high-level meetings yesterday over the use of so-called "pepper-ball" guns by U.S. Border Patrol agents, after an apparent linguistic confusion over the projectiles helped fuel tensions with Mexico.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega met with Mexican Ambassador Carlos de Icaza in Washington, after Mexico demanded high-level diplomatic consultations on the issue, an official at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico confirmed.

The Mexican government has faced severe criticism from local media and rights groups for not opposing more strongly the use of "balas de goma" - literally, rubber bullets - against illegal immigrants.

"They are using our Mexican countrymen as targets in a modern, almost festive hunt with rubber bullets," Mexican lawmaker Cesar Camacho told local media.

In fact, the plastic balls are fired with compressed gas and are basically paintball pellets filled with pepper powder, an irritant intended to immobilize. By replacing the need for live ammunition, they are supposed to reduce the potential for immigrant deaths, according to U.S. officials.

The U.S. Border Patrol fired the pepper balls 81 times during fiscal 2002-03 and reported no deaths or severe injuries.

Rubber bullets, on the other hand, are rubber-coated steel pellets usually fired with gunpowder, which can be lethal if fired from a short distance or if they hit soft body tissue. The Border Patrol does not use rubber bullets as part of its normal equipment, said agency spokeswoman Gloria Chavez.

But "paintball" is hard to describe in Mexico, where the sport has yet to catch on widely.

"Pelotas de pimienta," offered one U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, as the best way to describe the pepper balls, while conceding the United States had not come up with any official translation.

Most Mexican TV anchors and newspaper writers have now taken a hybrid approach, referring to the projectiles as "rubber bullets filled with pepper," something that apparently does not exist.

Chavez called the whole misunderstanding a case of "mass confusion."

"This was always intended only to be used when there was a situation of danger, exclusively to prevent violent harm to the officer or others," Chavez said. "It would seem that some people have assumed it would be used to stop people coming into the country."

The controversy arose this month after Border Patrol stations in Texas began acquiring what is formally known as the "pepperball launch system," another linguistic rarity.

But the guns already have been used on a trial basis since 2001 in California and Arizona.

What enraged Mexicans more was the idea their government had somehow approved the use of the weapons, because it joined the United States in a joint effort to reduce the use of lethal weapons in border control.

Border Patrol agents carry pistols with live ammunition, what is known as the "lethal deterrent."

The Border Patrol has long relied on pepper spray and steel batons for short-range, nonlethal deterrence. However, neither is effective against people throwing rocks from 20 feet to 100 feet away, one of the more common forms of aggression suffered by agents.

The pepper balls contain a chile pepper-derived powder that irritates the eyes and nose for about 10 to 15 seconds and that can be treated by flushing the irritated areas with water. The balls' impact may also cause bruising, and most paintball players wear helmets and face masks to prevent a direct hit to the head or eyes.