More on plane crash in Mexico that killed 14, including interior minister
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Will the crash be a setback to the Mexican government’s fight against drug trafficking?
Mexican authorities said Wednesday that investigators found no immediate signs of foul play in the plane crash that killed the country’s interior minister and 13 other people. The crash, which killed Interior Minister Juan Camilo Mouriño and eight others aboard a Learjet 45 on Tuesday night, was a serious blow to President Felipe Calderon at a time when his government is locked in a violent struggle against drug traffickers and faces growing signs of economic trouble related to the global downturn. As interior minister, traditionally the country’s second-most powerful office, the 37-year-old Mouriño’s sprawling portfolio included domestic security. He was the closest among Calderon’s tight circle of advisers on crime and a host of other issues and had been mentioned as a possible successor when Calderon’s term ends in 2012. ‘It’s a strong blow,’ said Alfonso Zarate, a political analyst in Mexico City. ‘It is the loss of a key figure from some of the most sensitive issues in the country.’ But Mouriño did not carry the political heft of some of his predecessors, and commentators already had started asking how long he would last in the post. He was interior minister for just 10 months and took a back seat to the army and other federal law enforcement officials in the crime fight, analysts said. Mouriño’s death seems unlikely to significantly alter the course of Calderon’s 2-year-old, uphill campaign against drug traffickers.
The presidential office released a statement saying that the plane’s black box has been sent to the Unites States for analysis and that results can be expected within a week.
The Christian Science Monitor this morning calls the death of Mouriño and José Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, a former top-ranking federal prosecutor, a ‘colossal setback’ to Mexico’s battle against drug traffickers.
Santiago Vasconcelos was a leading adviser to President Calderon in the drug war. He had survived at least one potential assassination attempt last winter, when five hit men allegedly out to kill him were arrested.
‘U.S. Ambassador Antonio Garza said the two men were models in the fight against organized crime.’ (Christian Science Monitor)
Meanwhile, the Washington Post highlights the loss of Miguel Monterrubio, Mouriño’s press spokesman.
‘Monterrubio ... introduced journalists to marvels of Mexican culture, such as the Day of the Dead, a holiday that features hot chocolate, sweet buns and offerings of brandy and cigars to the departed. He also hosted tours of the Mexican Cultural Center on 16th Street to showcase murals of fabled painter Diego Rivera, husband of artist Frida Kahlo.’ (Washington Post)
-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City