WASHINGTON: When the government of El Salvador wanted help extending immigration benefits to its citizens in the United States, it turned to a new lobbying shop set up by Miami lawyer Alberto Cardenas Jr., a star of the Republican fundraising machine.

The lobbyists were confident that "a round of consultations and meetings" with Bush administration officials would get El Salvador what it wanted: an additional 18 months of protection and work permits for Salvadorans living in the United States.

In less than two weeks, El Salvador got just that. Foreign governments have played the Washington influence game for years, paying large fees to lobbyists, especially those with connections to the White House.

Those connections often have stemmed from past government service, either in elective or appointive positions. But now, the growing cadre of fundraisers in presidential politics are increasingly influential players for countries seeking to improve their access to Washington's corridors of power.

In June, for example, Iraq's Kurdish Democratic Party hired a Washington lobbying firm to help keep it in good standing with the administration. The company - Barbour, Griffith and Rogers - promotes its access to the White House in its written appeals for foreign business, saying it knows "decision-makers and the decision-making process."

One of its partners, Larry Griffith, is a top fundraiser for President Bush, as had been the firm's founder, Haley Barbour, now the governor of Mississippi and no longer active with the company.

The trend of foreign countries relying on lobbyists who also serve as political fundraisers troubles government watchdog groups. Issues such as trade and immigration drive US foreign policy, they say, and should not be influenced by those with fundraising links to decision-makers.

"One of the things this shows is that foreign governments that used to work country-to-country now believe they have to function through the Washington influence money system in order to be heard in Washington," said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a non-partisan, campaign watchdog group. "And that's an extremely damaging comment on the way influence is bought and sold in Washington these days."

When Cardenas opened an international lobbying shop in Washington, he didn't have to sell his political credentials - which include state GOP chairman in Florida in 2000 - or his fundraising prowess on Bush's behalf.

The five Latin American and Caribbean governments that signed on with the Tew Cardenas firm knew it already. "Everyone I've talked to was familiar with my involvement in the president's campaign in Florida," said Cardenas, recently named co-chairman of this year's Bush campaign in the state. "Obviously, my political involvement over the years provided us with the access we needed."

Among GOP fundraisers, he was the first person to reach "Super Ranger" status this year, meaning he raised at least $500,000 for Bush's campaign and the Republican National Committee.

Cardenas is one of 17 of the president's top fundraisers who lobby the White House and executive branch on behalf of other nations, based on a Los Angeles Times review of foreign agent registrations at the Justice Department compared with a list of Bush fundraisers who are lawyers and lobbyists.

The foreign lobbying contracts at the Justice Department showed that fundraiser-lobbyists frequently cited their access to the administration as a selling point for would-be clients. -Dawn/LAT-WP News Service (c) The Los Angeles Times.