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US Ambassador to Mexico Resigns over WikiLeaks Embassy Cables
The US ambassador to Mexico has resigned amid a furore over a leaked diplomatic cable in which he complained about inefficiency and infighting among Mexican security forces in the campaign against drug cartels.
Carlos Pascual, the US ambassador to Mexico, has resigned over a row with the Mexican president, Felipe Calderón, over the WikiLeaks cables. Photograph: Daniel Aguilar/Reuters Hillary Clinton said Carlos Pascual's decision to step down was "based upon his personal desire to ensure the strong relationship between our two countries and to avert issues" raised by the Mexican president, Felipe Calderón.
The US secretary of state was not specific, but a furious Calderón has publicly criticised Pascual's criticisms, divulged as part of the US embassy cables by WikiLeaks.
Pascual's resignation appears to be the biggest fallout yet from the release of thousands of sensitive US diplomatic cables from around the world. It is the first such public departure by a US ambassador during the Obama administration.
Clinton went to lengths to praise Pascual's work in Mexico and said the Obama administration never lost confidence in him. Clinton said Pascual's work with Mexico to build institutions capable of fighting drug traffickers "will serve both our nations for decades".
She was "particularly grateful to Carlos for his efforts to sustain the morale and security of American personnel after tragic shootings in Mexico" that killed a US employee and three other people tied to the consulate in the border city of Ciudad Juarez last year.
"It is with great reluctance that President Obama and I have acceded to Carlos's request" to step down, Clinton said in a statement.
The ambassador's resignation laid bare how difficult relations between the US embassy and the Mexican government had become since the release of the cable in December. Calderón has made no secret of his personal anger at Pascual.
"I will not accept or tolerate any type of intervention," Calderón said in an interview with the newspaper El Universal in late February. "But that man's ignorance translates into a distortion of what is happening in Mexico and affects things and creates ill feeling within our own team."
There was no immediate reaction from the Mexican government, although an official from Calderón's office said it was preparing a response.
Pascual may have ruffled feathers in the Mexican government and Calderón's National Action party by dating the daughter of Francisco Rojas, the congressional leader of the former longtime ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party. Mexican officials and the U.S. Embassy have declined to comment on that matter.
One of the leaked diplomatic cables that most angered Calderón referred to friction between Mexico's army and navy while detailing an operation that led to the death of drug lord Arturo Beltran Leyva.
Pascual said the US, which had information locating Beltran Leyva, originally took it to the army, which refused to move quickly. Beltran Leyva was eventually brought down in a shootout with Mexican marines, who have since taken the lead in other operations against cartel capos.
Other cables reported jealousies and a lack of co-ordination between various Mexican security forces.
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Show All"Pascual's resignation appears to be the biggest fallout yet from the release of thousands of sensitive US diplomatic cables from around the world. "
And here I was thinking the biggest fallout is what's happening to Bradley Manning.
These guys are all lying backstabbing hypocritical sacks of shit. The only way they know the truth is when they feel an overwhelming urge to cover it up.
Calderon, like Fox, seems to never miss a chance to miss a chance.
NOTHING in the disclosed documents is false; it is a known fact that the Army is risk averse, and the Mexicans use the Marines when it is a serious operation.
The cables were considered confidential; at no time was there some "plot" to embarrass Calderon, no one counted on Wikileaks releasing them.
As to who the guy is dating, please...
There is little more pathetic than an American who thinks that he becomes a better wanna-be-Mexican by calling his countrymen "Gringos".
Now, dearie, if you REALLY lived in Mexico, you would be aware that the vast majority of Mexicans simply shook their heads in disgust at what was in those cables, because the cables simply confirm what is already know: Mexican police forces are corrupt and the Army is inept. No one outside of the La Jornada/UNAM limosuine liberals got their inferiority complexes in a bunch because of them.
If you REALLY lived in Mexico, you would be aware that, within the Armada de Mexico exists an organization known as the Infanteria Naval. These are MARINES, and are referred to, colloquially, as "marinos". And, if you REALLY lived in Mexico, you would be as aware as anyone else that, when something serious, like taking down Beltran Leyva, has to be done, it is the MARINES who do it, not the Army.
I am glad you have sobered up enough to realize what I was talking about. Your comment about "US Marines" was, to put it mildly, ignorant.
The scourge of drug addiction depends on two basic elements: consumers and producers; but by concentrating on the elusive traffickers, those elements are ignored and the problem gets worse. Obviously, drug users can best be treated medically; but the producers could be burned out, their crops destroyed. Why hasn't that been done?
Drugs-- Why our great-grandparents were happier than we are:
http://www.witnessthis.co.za/2010/11/05/good-days/
This is a great link, provokes some thought. Thanks, ezeflyer.
One rat leaves the sinking ship. Hardly a victory. However, this obscure news bit I spotted the other day speaks volume on the subject:
"US drones secretly aid Mexico drug war"
http://www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2011/03/17/us_drones_secretly_aid_mexico_drug_war/
MEXICO CITY — US Customs and Border Protection has been surreptitiously flying Predator drones into Mexico for two years, helping Mexican authorities spy on suspected drug traffickers, the Associated Press has learned.
The border security agency’s surveillance flights, approved by Mexico but never announced by either nation, predate occasional flights into Mexico by the US Air Force’s $38 million Global Hawk drone that began last month.
[…]
The flights greatly escalate the US role in the drug war, in which Americans already have been training Mexican soldiers and police as well as cooperating on other intelligence.
[…]
No mention of the BATFE Project "Gun Runner" or, as the pundits are calling it, "Project Gun Walker". Pascual is just getting out of the fray before it escalates.
We don't want to discuss that; it gets in the way of the accepted narrative that the ONLY reason for violence in Mexico is civilian gun ownership in the United States.
If the Mexicans had any stones, they would indict Holder for gun running.
Thank you Wikileaks, Assange and Manning for shining light in the darkness of conservative's War on Drugs and People
Legalize all drugs. There is no such thing as a happy drug addict. Legalize all drugs and sell them at cost through medical professionals who are open to help the addict and cannot be corrupted because the drugs are sold at cost and nobody on planet earth makes a dime off of unhappy addicts.
Everybody who knows the least little bit about modern logic and science knows this is as true as the fact that small agroecology farm techniques of indigenous people outproduces oil powered chemical corporate farms two to one.
"... small agroecology farm techniques of indigenous people outproduces oil powered chemical corporate farms two to one."
Correct except for one key thing:
Produces less corporate profit, and less corporate control.
The one thing political animals hate the most is having the truth of their stupidity, ignorance and uselessness come out. Whether it is Obama, Bush, or Jerry Brown.
All I can say is big, BIG business from production to distribution; where money is generated to profit the traffickers.
However; enforcement is politicized to the point that it is either inefficient or corrupted. It doesn't seem to be working. Is it supposed to?
Sooo much money to be made...
Legalization is the only way to stop the insanity.
Bring addiction into the light, because MOST people with serious addictions want to quit! Once the youth see this they will be less likely to take the same route. But, it would take years to become the norm in society.
Of the old hippies I know, most live drug free, some still smoke pot, maybe do a little this or that every now and then, but their lives are not controlled by it. I'm talking about your neighbor you get along with so well!