Pubdate: Tue, 8 Sep 2009
Source: Christian Science Monitor (US)
Copyright: 2009 The Christian Science Publishing Society
Contact: http://www.csmonitor.com/cgi-bin/encryptmail.pl?ID=CFF0C5E4
Website: http://www.csmonitor.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/83
Author: Sara Miller Llana, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Felipe+Calderon
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Mexico x

Mexico Replaces Attorney General in Drug-War Shift

The Cabinet Shakeup Could Signal a Hardening of the Government's
Military Stand Against Organized Crime.

Mexico City - Mexican President Felipe Calderon Monday replaced his 
attorney general
- - a pointman since the beginning in the president's battle against
drug trafficking that has engulfed this nation in unprecedented violence.

Mr. Calderon offered no reason for the resignation of Eduardo Medina
Mora on Monday. The cabinet shakeup could signal a hardening of the
government's military stand against organized crime after the death
toll from drug-related violence has surged to more than 13,000 since
Calderon took office in late 2006.

"It is not a change of strategy; it is an adjustment among the
president's men, and Medina Mora was the weakest functionary in the
security circle of the president," says Erubiel Tirado, a security
specialist at the Iberoamerican University in Mexico City. "For
Calderon, there is no way but this one."

Battling drug trafficking has been the cornerstone of Calderon's
presidency. Midway through his six-year term, he opened his State of
the Union address last week to unveil gains made in arms seizures and
arrests.

Public Backs Calderon's Tough Stance

Society seems to back him in his effort. In a recent survey by the
non-profit Mexicans United Against Crime and Mitofsky Consulting, 50
percent of Mexicans said they believe the government's strategy
against organized crime has been successful, while 33 percent consider
it a failure.

But violence has continued unabated. As more than 45,000 troops have
been dispatched by the Calderon administration throughout the country,
homicides have not only grown in number but in intensity as well.

Calderon announced that he will nominate Arturo Chavez, a former
attorney general of Chihuahua, Mexico's most conflict-ridden state, to
replace Medina Mora. The nomination still must be ratified by the senate.

New Objectives?

It is unclear whether a change in personnel will change the national
tactic. "The president has named new names. But he has not named the
new objectives or targets," says Javier Oliva Posada, a security
specialist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Mr. Oliva Posada says that the shift provides an opportunity for
better coordination among the institutions battling drug trafficking -
which he says he considers a weakness in the strategy - including the
attorney general's office, the national security ministry, and the
military.

Medina Mora often clashed with Public Security Minister Genaro Garcia
Luna, who is a top Calderon ally. "Garcia [Luna] is the main master of
security in Mexico," says Mr. Tirado. "You need all the men in the
security circle to have the same tone, the same goals."

Medina Mora, who was often praised by US officials, reiterated his
support for Calderon's efforts. "The strategy for recovering the
public's security and the tactic of changing the way things were have
been correct," he said. "Progress has unquestionably been made. The
historic decision to use all the power of the state to put a stop to
the power of the criminal organizations was fundamental to ensure our
future as a nation."

He had worked with the president to clean government institutions of
corruption. The attorney general's office faced a setback last year,
though, when its former head of the organized crime prevention unit
was charged with handing over information to traffickers in exchange
for some $450,000.

As part of the shakeup announced late Monday afternoon, Calderon also
said that the nation's agriculture secretary and the head of Pemex,
the state-owned oil company, will be replaced. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake