Prominent defense lawyer is stabbed to death
Americo Delgado had represented major drug figures, including Tijuana crime boss Benjamin Arellano Felix. Police have not identified a motive.

Competing Mexican drug cartels are destroying each other ... and that's where 'Warrior' begins ...."
http://www.warriorthemovie.com
http://www.warriorthemovie.blogspot.com
http://imdb.com/title/tt0320751

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-208917617001990565&q=warrior+mexican+OR+drug+OR+cartels+duration%3Ashort+genre%3AMOVIE_TRAILER

"the action adventure fantasy feature film "Warrior" ... about the son of a divine force ... is a story of a young man's quest to find his true identity set against the twin backdrops of Native American folklore and the treacherous Mexican drug trade and a portrayal of the classic confrontation between "good and evil" ... filmed in the exotic jungles of Costa Azul in the State of Nayarit and the urban grit of Puerto Vallarta in the State of Jalisco, Mexico .. with action, adventure, romance, comedy, a multi-ethnic cast, a major studio movie music score and spectacular cinematography..."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-lawyer30-2009aug30,0,7770202,print.story

latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-lawyer30-2009aug30,0,4787753.story
latimes.com
MEXICO UNDER SIEGE
Prominent defense lawyer is stabbed to death
Americo Delgado had represented major drug figures, including Tijuana crime boss Benjamin Arellano Felix. Police have not identified a motive.
By Ken Ellingwood
August 30, 2009
Reporting from Mexico City

A Mexican lawyer who has represented some of the country's best-known drug suspects was stabbed to death outside his home, authorities said Saturday.

Americo Delgado was ambushed Friday evening by at least three men in the city of Toluca, an hour or so outside Mexico City, police said. He was stabbed in the neck, officials said. They did not identify a possible motive.

Over the years, Delgado, said to be 81, has represented a number of prominent drug figures, including Tijuana crime boss Benjamin Arellano Felix and Jesus Amezcua, one of the so-called "methamphetamine kings."

Most recently, Delgado represented Alfredo Beltran Leyva, a suspected kingpin from the northwestern state of Sinaloa who was arrested by Mexican authorities in January 2008. Beltran Leyva's group was once allied with Mexico's most-wanted drug suspect, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, but the arrest ignited vicious fighting between the factions.

Delgado's slaying was the second this month of an attorney who has represented high-profile drug suspects. Silvia Raquenel Villanueva, a lawyer in the northern city of Monterrey, was gunned down Aug. 9 at a crowded market there, in what appeared to be an execution-style attack.

Villanueva's clients included Carlos Resendez Bertolucci, a member of the Gulf cartel whose testimony helped convict kingpin Juan Garcia Abrego on trafficking charges during the 1990s.

Mexico's drug underworld has become increasingly violent amid a government crackdown that has exacerbated rivalries between trafficking groups. More than 11,000 people have been killed in drug- related violence since President Felipe Calderon launched the offensive in December 2006.

Mexico does not have open, U.S.-style trials; the work of defense lawyers in drug cases here tends to be behind the scenes. Lawyers file motions challenging the legality of arrests or seizures, seek court injunctions to free clients from jail and fight extradition requests. But their work carries risks because it puts them close to suspects and can antagonize rival traffickers.

Delgado handled dozens of drug cases in his long career. In recent years, he worked on behalf of Arellano, who was arrested in 2002 and convicted in Mexico on drug-trafficking and money-laundering charges. Arellano has fought extradition to the United States.

Delgado, listed by the Reforma newspaper as 81, was honored by the National Autonomous University of Mexico and a national lawyers group for a legal career spanning more than half a century.

ken.ellingwood@latimes.com

Cecilia Sanchez of The Times' Mexico City Bureau contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times

br />

In Mexico, no jail time for small amounts of drugs
In a move meant to aid in the fight against traffickers, the nation puts into practice a law letting people possess limited quantities of marijuana and cocaine, and even heroin and methamphetamine.

Competing Mexican drug cartels are destroying each other ... and that's where 'Warrior' begins ...."
http://www.warriorthemovie.com
http://www.warriorthemovie.blogspot.com
http://imdb.com/title/tt0320751

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-208917617001990565&q=warrior+mexican+OR+drug+OR+cartels+duration%3Ashort+genre%3AMOVIE_TRAILER

"the action adventure fantasy feature film "Warrior" ... about the son of a divine force ... is a story of a young man's quest to find his true identity set against the twin backdrops of Native American folklore and the treacherous Mexican drug trade and a portrayal of the classic confrontation between "good and evil" ... filmed in the exotic jungles of Costa Azul in the State of Nayarit and the urban grit of Puerto Vallarta in the State of Jalisco, Mexico .. with action, adventure, romance, comedy, a multi-ethnic cast, a major studio movie music score and spectacular cinematography..."


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-drugs23-2009aug23,0,6515822,print.story


latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-drugs23-2009aug23,0,6595161.story
latimes.com
In Mexico, no jail time for small amounts of drugs
In a move meant to aid in the fight against traffickers, the nation puts into practice a law letting people possess limited quantities of marijuana and cocaine, and even heroin and methamphetamine.

By Tracy Wilkinson and Richard Marosi
August 23, 2009
Reporting from Tijuana and Mexico City

Mired in a bloody battle with major drug traffickers, Mexico is quietly eliminating jail time for possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs.

The government of President Felipe Calderon says removing the penalties will help in its fight against traffickers by freeing up law enforcement resources and shifting attention from minor consumers to big-time dealers and drug lords. The law also provides for free treatment for addicts.

But critics say decriminalization sends the wrong message amid a drug war that has claimed more than 11,000 lives since late 2006. It will encourage consumption and add to Mexico's fast-growing ranks of addicts, opponents say.

With the law, Mexico joins a trend throughout Latin America of easing penalties for small-time drug use. But Mexico's law goes further than most in that it includes substances such as heroin, LSD and methamphetamine.

The law, which went into effect last week, did not stir huge controversy in Mexico, and Washington has not taken a public stance on it. But officials in some states that border the U.S. are worried that they will be flooded with American "drug tourists" seeking a penalty-free high.

That was not the fear Saturday on Tijuana's legendary Avenida Revolucion, the main tourist drag clogged with bars, restaurants and souvenir shops. Tourism has plummeted because of drug-fueled violence, the economic crisis and the recent flu epidemic, but no one was predicting that liberal drug laws would bring the tourists back.

"People who want drugs have always been able to just go down the street and buy them," said Adan Cardenas, a waiter at the Mystery Bar, where it's all-you-can-drink for $15.

The tourist police who patrol Tijuana said their marching orders remain the same: Anyone seen consuming drugs, whatever the amount, is taken to police headquarters.

"It's not like you can shoot up on the street or smoke a joint on the corner. If they catch you, you're still going to the police station," said Jack Doron, president of a downtown merchants association. He said it's still illegal to sell drugs, so there is no talk of opening Amsterdam-style hashish bars.

People caught with small amounts clearly intended for "personal and immediate use" and who are not known members of cartels will not be criminally prosecuted. They will be told of available clinics, and encouraged to enter a rehabilitation program. Rehab is mandatory when a user is caught a third time.

The permitted amounts include 5 grams of marijuana and 500 milligrams of cocaine -- enough for four or five pot cigarettes or four lines of coke -- and up to 40 milligrams of methamphetamine and 50 milligrams of heroin.

With the law, Calderon risks rankling his closest ally in the drug war: the U.S. Mexico's previous attempts to legalize drugs proved very controversial. When the Mexican Congress approved a similar decriminalization law in 2006, then-President Vicente Fox was forced to veto it under U.S. pressure.

In April, when the new law was making its way through the Mexican legislature, Michele Leonhart, acting director of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, said legalization "would be a failed law enforcement strategy for both the U.S. and Mexico."

Visiting Mexico in July, however, the United States' so-called drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, said he would take a "wait-and-see" attitude. If sanctions were "completely nonexistent . . . that would be a concern," he added.

Still, Calderon's government has shown signs of being worried about ruffling feathers in Washington. There was no official announcement that Calderon had signed the law; it was merely published in the official government paper of record.

The law was approved by Congress in late April, at the height of the flu outbreak that had grabbed the country's attention. And when The Times wrote about the law in June, Calderon's office would not discuss it.

The law requires local and state authorities to join in cracking down on illegal drug sales instead of leaving enforcement completely in the hands of federal authorities, and that in turn could bolster the broader war against the cartels, analysts said.

"The good thing about the law is that it sets up federal and local cooperation," said Samuel Gonzalez, an analyst who served as Mexico's top anti-drug prosecutor in the 1990s. But, he said, it doesn't go far enough in setting up prevention and treatment programs, and, consequently, could lead to increased drug consumption.

Many in Mexico applauded the legislation because it shifts minor drug use away from courts and jails and into the realm of public health.

In practice, minor consumption was rarely punished in Mexico and often left to the discretion of a court or an arresting officer, which in turn led to corruption when police officers used the arrests to extort money from the offenders. Fewer than 15% of people arrested for possessing small amounts of drugs since late 2006 were charged with a crime, according to the attorney general's office.

But Mexico is also under-equipped to deal with a growing addiction problem. Government studies estimate that the number of addicts in Mexico has doubled since 2002, and clinics and rehab centers can handle only a fraction of them.

The law has won praise from several opposition political parties here and pro-legalization groups in the U.S.

"This new law is a step in the right direction," Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the U.S.-based Drug Policy Alliance Network, said in a statement. "Mexico is trying to make the right choices on law enforcement priorities."

Opponents include the Roman Catholic Church and a number of experts in social work, addiction treatment and at-risk youths. Permitting any use, they argued, implicitly condones the sale and purchase of drugs and results in more earnings for the big cartels the government is battling.

wilkinson@latimes.com

richard.marosi@latimes.com

Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times

br />

U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. announces the indictment of alleged Mexican drug dealers during a news conference at the Justice Department. Among those charged were reputed leaders of the Sinaloa drug cartel and the rival Juarez cartel from northern Mexico. (Shawn Thew / EPA / August 20)

Top Mexican drug dealers among dozens indicted in U.S., officials say
Federal agencies file charges against 43 suspects accused of bringing many tons of narcotics into the U.S.

Competing Mexican drug cartels are destroying each other ... and that's where 'Warrior' begins ...."
http://www.warriorthemovie.com
http://www.warriorthemovie.blogspot.com
http://imdb.com/title/tt0320751

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-208917617001990565&q=warrior+mexican+OR+drug+OR+cartels+duration%3Ashort+genre%3AMOVIE_TRAILER

"the action adventure fantasy feature film "Warrior" ... about the son of a divine force ... is a story of a young man's quest to find his true identity set against the twin backdrops of Native American folklore and the treacherous Mexican drug trade and a portrayal of the classic confrontation between "good and evil" ... filmed in the exotic jungles of Costa Azul in the State of Nayarit and the urban grit of Puerto Vallarta in the State of Jalisco, Mexico .. with action, adventure, romance, comedy, a multi-ethnic cast, a major studio movie music score and spectacular cinematography..."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-drug-cartels21-2009aug21,0,7531041,print.story


latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-drug-cartels21-2009aug21,0,3757559.story
latimes.com
MEXICO UNDER SIEGE
Top Mexican drug dealers among dozens indicted in U.S., officials say
Federal agencies file charges against 43 suspects accused of bringing many tons of narcotics into the U.S.
By Kristina Sherry
August 21, 2009
Reporting from Washington

Federal authorities announced Thursday a dozen indictments against some of Mexico's most powerful organized crime groups for allegedly exporting tons of narcotics into the United States and distributing them to cities across the country.

Among those charged in the indictments were three reputed leaders of the Sinaloa drug cartel and the alleged head of the rival Juarez cartel from northern Mexico.

The cases, handled by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, involved long-running investigations that spanned several countries. One probe started with a street-level heroin bust in Chicago and led to the highest reaches of the Sinaloa cartel; another followed the drug supply chain from a Colombian paramilitary group to the streets of New York City, according to DEA spokesman Mike Sanders.

The charges were filed against 43 individuals in 12 separate indictments in U.S. federal court in Brooklyn and Chicago.

U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. praised the "bilateral cooperation" between Mexico and the United States throughout the investigations.

Some of the suspects, including the reputed head of the Sinaloa cartel, Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, have been indicted previously and remain at large. Holder said the new indictments were not a futile exercise and declared his intention to bring the defendants to justice in the United States.

"These are not symbolic acts that we are taking today," Holder said at the Justice Department, appearing with two U.S. attorneys and ICE and DEA officials.

Holder also acknowledged that criminal conduct had not taken place solely in Mexico, noting the indictment of individuals who had received shipments in Chicago.

"The audacity of these cartels' operations is met only by their sophistication and their reach," Holder said.

Three of the most powerful suspected leaders were charged in both Brooklyn and Chicago: Guzmán, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada García and Arturo Beltran Leyva, who allegedly have ties to the Sinaloa cartel. Once allied in a partnership that federal officials dub "The Federation," Beltran Leyva and Guzmán have been embroiled in a violent feud over trafficking routes since 2008.

Together, the four Brooklyn and eight Chicago indictments, which were unsealed Wednesday and Thursday, charge that the three men were responsible for importing and distributing heroin and more than 200 metric tons of cocaine between 1990 and 2008. More than 32,500 kilograms of cocaine have been seized, including about 3,000 kilograms seized during the Chicago investigation and about 7,500 kilograms from the New York investigation.

The DEA estimates that about 90% of the cocaine that enters the United States comes from Mexico.

Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. attorney for the northern district of Illinois, said the indictments were "among the most significant drug conspiracy charges ever returned in Chicago."

Fitzgerald noted that the defendants allegedly used "practically every means of transportation imaginable to move these large amounts of drugs and to funnel massive amounts of money back to Mexico."

The drugs were allegedly moved by car, truck, boat, ship, submarine and plane, including Boeing 747 cargo aircraft.

As part of their operation, the three alleged Sinaloa leaders are believed to have smuggled more than $5.8 billion in cash proceeds from the United States and Canada back to Mexico. The indictments seek forfeiture of these proceeds.

"We've learned we must not only go after the leaders, but their money," Holder said. "If we suffocate their funding sources, we can cripple their operations."

Authorities also indicted Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, the reputed head of the Juarez cartel, who allegedly received multi-ton shipments of cocaine from Colombia's Norte Valle cartel and the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia paramilitary group. Carrillo Fuentes, who has also been previously indicted, remains a fugitive.

The indictments increase pressure on the accused traffickers at a time when they are locked in battle with Mexican security forces across that country, and as the Mexican government increases extradition of suspects to the United States. But most of the alleged kingpins named in the indictments have eluded capture for years and are already figures on Mexico's "most wanted" list, with authorities offering rewards of up to $2 million for their capture.

The indictments also add to the growing list of drug traffickers apprehended or wanted by the U.S. government.

Earlier this year, federal authorities arrested more than 750 people in the United States and Mexico who they suspected were affiliated with the Sinaloa cartel.

And 15 defendants were charged in previous indictments -- 10 in Chicago and five in New York -- including alleged customers, carriers and distributors for the cartels.

In all, 58 individuals have been charged in the investigations coordinated between the U.S. attorneys' offices in Brooklyn and Chicago. All but one of the defendants face life sentences if convicted.

ksherry@tribune.com

Times staff writers Richard Marosi in San Diego and Tracy Wilkinson in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times

br />

Federal police participate this week in the Mexico City funeral for 12 fellow officers whose bodies were found in a heap in the western state of Michoacan. The La Familia drug gang is suspected of killing them.

Forces hiked to counter drug gang in Mexican state
Mexico is to deploy 5,500 security personnel to the western state of Michoacan, where a series of recent attacks has killed 16 police officers. The La Familia drug gang is suspected in the slayings.

Competing Mexican drug cartels are destroying each other ... and that's where 'Warrior' begins ...."
http://www.warriorthemovie.com
http://www.warriorthemovie.blogspot.com
http://imdb.com/title/tt0320751

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-208917617001990565&q=warrior+mexican+OR+drug+OR+cartels+duration%3Ashort+genre%3AMOVIE_TRAILER

"the action adventure fantasy feature film "Warrior" ... about the son of a divine force ... is a story of a young man's quest to find his true identity set against the twin backdrops of Native American folklore and the treacherous Mexican drug trade and a portrayal of the classic confrontation between "good and evil" ... filmed in the exotic jungles of Costa Azul in the State of Nayarit and the urban grit of Puerto Vallarta in the State of Jalisco, Mexico .. with action, adventure, romance, comedy, a multi-ethnic cast, a major studio movie music score and spectacular cinematography..."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-michoacan17-2009jul17,0,7678146.story

From the Los Angeles Times

MEXICO UNDER SIEGE
Forces hiked to counter drug gang in Mexican state
Mexico is to deploy 5,500 security personnel to the western state of Michoacan, where a series of recent attacks has killed 16 police officers. The La Familia drug gang is suspected in the slayings.

By Ken Ellingwood

July 17, 2009

Reporting from Mexico City — Mexican authorities announced plans Thursday to send 5,500 police officers and military personnel to the western state of Michoacan to confront a violent crime syndicate offering some of the fiercest resistance President Felipe Calderon's government has faced since launching its war on drugs 2 1/2 years ago.

About 1,000 extra police officers were deployed Thursday before officials outlined the broader buildup. The move, which included providing helicopters and other equipment, represented a show of resolve in Calderon's home state, a major drug-trafficking corridor where 16 police officers have been killed recently in well-coordinated attacks. Following the assaults, police have patrolled in convoys and curtailed nighttime operations as a way to avoid further casualties.

One Mexican pundit said the recent aggressiveness by the drug-trafficking group La Familia was the equivalent of the surprise 1968 Tet offensive by communist forces in the Vietnam War.

Michoacan is a key front in the drug war. The federal government's move to deploy more forces there, which reportedly included shifting officers from violence-ridden Ciudad Juarez, would bolster the 300 officers already assigned to Michoacan. The government said the buildup would consist of 2,500 soldiers, 1,500 federal police and 1,500 naval personnel.

The gang's gunmen are believed responsible for more than a dozen attacks against federal police, including the slayings of 12 off-duty officers Monday whose bodies were dumped in a ghastly heap near the state's Pacific coast. Attackers have sprayed gunfire and hurled grenades at police installations throughout Michoacan and shot at officers in the field.

The recent string of attacks began Saturday, after Mexican forces captured Arnoldo Rueda Medina, who allegedly served as the right-hand man for the group's founder, Nazario Moreno Gonzalez, known as "El Mas Loco," or "The Craziest One."

The Calderon administration appears serious about pursuing La Familia, said Stephen Meiners, a Latin America analyst at Stratfor, a global- intelligence firm in Austin, Texas. The group has fast become one of Mexico's most formidable crime syndicates.

"The number of attacks and ability to coordinate them . . . is a reflection of La Familia's organizational capabilities," Meiners said. "Part of what [Calderon is] trying to do is assure the Mexican population that things are under control."

But the increase of forces in Michoacan appeared to show the strains on Mexico's drug-war capabilities.

The border city of Ciudad Juarez had received hundreds of new officers in March amid soaring killings.

The beefed-up deployment in Michoacan came after a bizarre exchange between Mexican officials and a man who claimed to be Servando Gomez Martinez, the gang's reputed operations chief.

The man called a Michoacan television phone-in show Wednesday and urged the government to reach an accord with La Familia, which he said had been unfairly targeted by police.

During a meandering explanation of the group's beliefs, the caller professed respect for Calderon and the Mexican military. But he accused federal police of going easy on other drug gangs and rounding up innocent people, including relatives of La Familia members.

A teenager identified as a nephew of Gomez Martinez was arrested this week in the central state of Guanajuato on suspicion of killing a federal officer.

"They are attacking our families," the caller complained. "We want to reach consensus, we want to reach a national pact."

A few hours later, the nation's interior minister, Fernando Gomez Mont, called a news conference to publicly reject the offer, even though officials said they were not sure whether the caller was the person he claimed to be.

"The federal government neither talks nor makes agreements, nor will ever negotiate with any criminal organization," Gomez Mont declared. "It fights against all criminal groups equally."

He warned that the government crackdown would continue. Senators from Mexico's main political parties joined Thursday in rejecting deals with drug traffickers.

Drug traffickers once worked relatively unfettered in Mexico through unofficial arrangements with the long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which ran government at all levels before losing to Calderon's party in 2000. Pacts were a favored tactic of the PRI as a way to resolve competing political and social interests, avoid turmoil and maintain its grip.

But democratic change in Mexico, which opened politics to other parties, has muddied the rules for drug traffickers and contributed to more conflicts and violence, analysts say.

Calderon, a conservative, declared war on organized crime soon after taking office in December 2006. He has sent 45,000 soldiers and 5,000 federal police into trafficking hot spots.

The effort has yielded a number of high-profile arrests and big seizures of drugs and guns. But the escalating death toll -- now at more than 11,000 --frightens many Mexicans, and polls show most people think the government is losing.

The effort has also laid bare the extent of corruption by police and other public officials.

As part of the investigation into the attacks against police in Michoacan, federal authorities said this week that they were seeking the arrest of Julio Cesar Godoy.

Godoy, a lawyer and the half brother of state Gov. Leonel Godoy, is suspected of helping provide protection for La Familia. He was elected to Congress last week.

In a speech Thursday, Calderon sought to reassure Mexicans of the government's goals.

"We want a Mexico without fear, we want a free Mexico," Calderon said.

"We know that one day Mexico will be free, one day Mexico will be the safe country we yearn for."

ken.ellingwood@latimes.com

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Mexico attorney general is replaced
Eduardo Medina Mora, a key figure in the administration's war on drug cartels, had been facing severe criticism from opponents who say the strategy is failing.

Competing Mexican drug cartels are destroying each other ... and that's where 'Warrior' begins ...."
http://www.warriorthemovie.com
http://www.warriorthemovie.blogspot.com
http://imdb.com/title/tt0320751

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-208917617001990565&q=warrior+mexican+OR+drug+OR+cartels+duration%3Ashort+genre%3AMOVIE_TRAILER

"the action adventure fantasy feature film "Warrior" ... about the son of a divine force ... is a story of a young man's quest to find his true identity set against the twin backdrops of Native American folklore and the treacherous Mexican drug trade and a portrayal of the classic confrontation between "good and evil" ... filmed in the exotic jungles of Costa Azul in the State of Nayarit and the urban grit of Puerto Vallarta in the State of Jalisco, Mexico .. with action, adventure, romance, comedy, a multi-ethnic cast, a major studio movie music score and spectacular cinematography..."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-resign8-2009sep08,0,2738929,print.story latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-resign8-2009sep08,0,4536007.story
latimes.com
MEXICO UNDER SIEGE
Mexico attorney general is replaced
Eduardo Medina Mora, a key figure in the administration's war on drug cartels, had been facing severe criticism from opponents who say the strategy is failing.
By Tracy Wilkinson
September 8, 2009
Reporting from Mexico City

Mexico's attorney general, a key figure in the government's war on drug cartels, resigned Monday as part of a Cabinet shake-up announced by beleaguered President Felipe Calderon.

Atty. Gen. Eduardo Medina Mora stepped down after severe criticism from political opponents who said the government's drug war strategy was failing. Medina Mora will be sent abroad as ambassador, Calderon said, but he did not specify to which country.

Calderon praised Medina Mora as a "brave man" whose "professionalism and loyalty" had been instrumental in dealing what the president said was a significant blow to organized crime.

Medina Mora was a staunch defender of the government's strategy in targeting powerful drug cartels, despite numerous setbacks in the effort. The death toll has soared and victories have been elusive.

Medina Mora was also the go-to man in the Calderon administration for U.S. officials, who at times have had prickly relations with the Mexican government.

However, his long-rumored removal does not necessarily foreshadow major changes in the way the drug war will be fought, analysts said.

"The fight will no doubt be won by the Mexican state," Medina Mora said at a news conference announcing his resignation.

He will be replaced by Arturo Chavez Chavez, a little-known official from the federal prosecutor's office and member of Calderon's conservative National Action Party. The incoming attorney general hails from the violent border state of Chihuahua. The Senate has to ratify his appointment before he can assume the post.

More than 13,000 people have been killed since Calderon launched the offensive at the start of his administration in December 2006. More than 48,000 army troops and 5,000 federal police have been mobilized nationwide.

Not only has the campaign failed to turn up top fugitive drug kingpins and to stem the flow of illicit profits, but it also has led to allegations of human rights violations by the army and has exposed levels of corruption across the country, in police departments and local governments, as well as Medina Mora's own office.

Calderon also appointed Francisco Javier Mayorga Castaneda as the new agriculture minister, at a time when the nation is struggling with its worst drought since World War II, and Juan Jose Suarez Coppel as director of the state oil monopoly.

wilkinson@latimes.com
Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times

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