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Mexican minister who fought drug cartels killed in crash
Carried over to Saturday.As Mexican President Felipe Calderon mourned the loss of his top minister in the nation's war against drug cartels, he pledged that the investigation into Friday's helicopter crash that killed the Cabinet member and all eight others aboard would be transparent and timely. In a national address Friday, Calderon said authorities don't know the exact cause of the crash south of Mexico City that killed Interior Minister Jose Francisco Blake Mora, but he added that investigators will look at all possible angles. The crash evoked comparisons to a 2008 plane crash that also killed the country's then-interior minister. That crash, in a luxurious Mexico City neighborhood, was later determined to be an accident caused by turbulence. The Learjet carrying the minister and others was following a commercial airliner too closely, authorities said. On Friday, Calderon called Blake Mora "a great Mexican who deeply loved his country and served until the last moment of his life." The helicopter went down in the Xochimilco area south of Mexico City on Friday, government spokeswoman Alejandra Sota said. Also killed in the crash were Undersecretary for Legal Affairs and Human Rights Felipe Zamora and the ministry's press office chief, Jose Alfredo Garcia, she said. In all, nine people perished -- seven passengers and two crew members, she said. In July 2010, Calderon appointed Blake Mora to the post that oversees security efforts against drug cartels in Mexico. That battle has cost thousands of lives. "I grieve his loss" and those of the other victims, Calderon said in a national address, adding that Blake Mora, who was 45, leaves behind a wife and two children. Authorities were investigating the cause of the accident. A photograph of the crash site depicts a relatively concentrated debris field. The French-manufactured THP06 Super Puma helicopter was made in 1987 and had logged 717 hours of flight, Mexican officials said. Before becoming interior minister, Blake Mora was an attorney from Baja California state who was chief of staff to the state government from 2007 until July 2010. Previously, he was a councilman in Tijuana, as well as a state and federal congressman. Charged with leading the national effort against the cartels, Blake Mora was considered to be close to the president and, in fact, led his political campaign in Baja California. The helicopter crashed while traveling between Mexico City and the Mexican state of Morelos south of the city, officials said. At a news conference, Sota confirmed there were no survivors and said the president met with Blake Mora's widow. Also among those killed were Diana Ayton Miriam Sanchez, a technical secretary; Lt. Maj. Rene de Leon Sapien; and three members of the air force: Lt. Felipe Basio Cortes, Lt. Pedro Ramon Becerra Escobar and Sgt. Jorge Luis Juarez Gomez. Ironically, Blake Mora's last writing in his Twitter account refers to the November 2008 accident that killed the prior interior minister. "Today we remember Juan Camilo Mourino three years after his departure, a human being who worked on building a better Mexico," Blake Mora says in a tweet posted on November 4, the third anniversary of the accident. Mourino died when his plane, returning to Mexico City after a tour of work in the state of San Luis Potosi, crashed near the intersection of the Mexico City's Periferico beltway and its grand boulevard, the Paseo de la Reforma. There was no foul play suspected in that accident, officials said. An investigation led by Gilberto Lopez Meyer, head of the nation's Airports and Auxiliary Services agency, determined that the Learjet 45 carrying the minister was too close to a Boeing 767 and the pilots lost control in the larger jet's wake. The Learjet slammed into the capital's wealthy Lomas neighborhood, killing all eight people on board and six on the ground. At least 40 others on the ground were injured. Former Interior Secretary Santiago Creel reacted to Friday's crash on Twitter by saying: "I'm sorry the accident. My prayers for Francis Blake and the other crew are found safe and sound." When appointed interior minister in 2010, Blake Mora succeeded Fernando Gomez Mont, who resigned as Calderon reorganized his Cabinet. A senior presidential adviser, Patricia Flores Elizondo, also resigned. Posted by: Sherry 2011-11-12 |
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