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United States Extends Condolences for Mexican Interior Secretary

By David McKeeby

The United States offered its condolences following the death of Mexican Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mouriño Terrazo, a key figure in efforts to bring Mexico's heavily armed and increasingly violent drug cartels to justice.

"He will be greatly missed by colleagues and friends in the United States," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack in a November 5 statement, praising Mouriño as "a valiant leader in our common war against drug trafficking and organized crime."

A government-operated jet carrying Mouriño and seven colleagues crashed into a northern Mexico City neighborhood November 4, killing all passengers aboard and injuring at least 40 people on the ground, according to local media reports. Also among the victims were former chief prosecutor Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos and top Mexican diplomat Miguel Monterrubio.

"This is a tragic loss for Mexico," said U.S. Ambassador Antonio Garza in a separate statement issued earlier in the day. "I have always admired the dedication and intelligence of Juan Camilo Mouriño. I have the greatest respect for the sheer bravery of Santiago Vasconcelos. I remember well the friendly collegiality of Miguel Monterrubio. Their loss will rightly be mourned by the whole nation."

Mouriño, a close adviser to Mexican President Felipe Calderón, has been a pivotal official in efforts to battle the cartels and reform Mexico's security services. Nearly 4,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence in Mexico this year.

"This is a national security priority for Mexico and it's a national security priority for the United States," said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who recently traveled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, for talks with her Mexican counterpart, Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa. The United States is a leading market for illicit drugs, experts say, as well as the source of many of the weapons smuggled into the region by the cartels.

The United States Congress has approved more than $400 million in security assistance for Mexico and several of its Central American neighbors under the Merida Initiative, launched in 2007 by Calderón and President Bush to combat drug trafficking, transnational crime and terrorism in the Western Hemisphere.

In her October 23-24 visit, Rice focused largely on the regional counternarcotics challenge, as did several other top U.S. officials who have traveled to Mexico in recent weeks, including U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey and John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

While traffickers have targeted several top Mexican law enforcement officers in recent months, preliminary investigations suggest the crash was an accident, officials said.

The United States will do all it can to assist in the investigation, Garza said, noting that two Federal Aviation Administration investigators already in Mexico were called to the scene to aid Mexican investigators. They have been joined by an accident investigation team from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, with support from the FBI's top forensic experts, the Evidence Response Team.

"It is important to reserve judgment on the cause of the crash until investigations are completed," Garza said. "Today we not only mourn the loss of our friends and colleagues, but stand in solidarity with the Mexican people."

Source: U.S. Department of State