MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) -- Mexican officials warned Wednesday they
                  would seize and expel a million cars that are in the country illegally, even as
                  hundreds of car owners protested in the capital, demanding papers for their
                  vehicles.

                  "The government's position is very clear: we will not register illegal cars. We
                  have to find the way to get them out of the country," Trade Minister
                  Herminio Blanco said in an interview on InfoRed radio network.

                  Blanco said the government would never change its position and allow
                  citizens to legalize vehicles brought here illegally from the United States, no
                  matter how long they have been in the country.

                  Cars are much cheaper in the United States and many are smuggled into
                  Mexico. In some cases, Mexicans who are U.S. residents bring cars here
                  legally on temporary import permits. But the vehicles remain in legal limbo
                  for years because registering them here is virtually impossible.

                  Owners of the estimated 1.0 to 1.5 million illegal vehicles in the country
                  frequently hold protests and demonstrations. There are some 17 million cars,
                  legal and illegal, in Mexico.

                  Wednesday, outside Blanco's ministry building in Mexico City, about 100
                  protesters blocked entrances demanding they be allowed to legalize their
                  cars.

                  "We have brought dollars," they said, demanding that the minister come out
                  and meet with them.

                  In the radio interview, Blanco said illegal autos were unfair to those
                  Mexicans who had sacrificed to buy vehicles made here or legally sold here,
                  paying taxes and supporting jobs and industry.

                     Copyright 1999 Reuters.