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| Caribbean-Latin America | |
| Gulf cartel plotting to take down Fox | |
| 2005-02-14 | |
The Mexican federal government is investigating whether the feared Gulf Cartel drug-smuggling mafia is armed with surface-to-air missiles as part of a plot to assassinate President Vicente Fox or shoot down a commercial airliner. "We do not want to alarm the public," Mexican Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha said at a news conference Saturday. "The first thing is to find out if it is true."
The document — a copy of which Macedo de la Concha declined to release — is said to mention the Pentagon and the State Department, and indicates at least two of the weapons could be in the hands of the cartel's enforcement arm, known as the Zetas and comprised of military deserters turned cartel mercenaries. The attorney general and his chief organized crime prosecutor, José Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, said they couldn't confirm or deny the document's authenticity. It was unclear exactly how authorities got the document. But the threat surfaces during especially troubling times in which no threats or perceived threats are being treated lightly. The document, dated Jan. 31, mentions the missiles were in the hands of the Nicaraguan authorities and were to be sold to drug cartels and paramilitary groups, Vasconcelos said. "We do not have anything new on this," Vasconcelos said. "We are still investigating." In addition to Fox, other potential targets include Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and Central American commercial airliners. U.S. government officials could not be reached for comment Saturday. The Washington Times reported late last month that the United States government and Nicaraguan police thwarted an attempt to sell some SA-7 missiles on the black market and that authorities feared stashes of the missiles were still for sale. Shortly after Fox declared he would fight the "mother of all wars" against the drug cartels, Nahúm Acosta, a key member of the president's travel staff, was arrested and is accused of providing information to drug traffickers. Fox played down the incident and authorities have taken pains to say the matter is under investigation. The Zetas are the bogeymen of the border. They were linked to the attack last week on Monterrey television reporter Jorge Cardona, whose car and home were sprayed with bullets after he aired an interview with a hooded informant who gave supposed names and codes of alleged Zeta members operating in the U.S.-Mexico border city of Nuevo Laredo. The informant said the Zetas were backed by city police and have a military informant. The reporter, fearing for his life, remains in hiding. Vasconcelos said the Zetas' leadership has been disrupted, that the group's soldiers have dwindled to about 30, and that he expects the group will soon be history. A U.S. federal agent, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the cartel is troubled enough to carry out bold attacks. "These people are desperate," the agent said. "Is it possible? Yes," he said of a missile attack. "Would it happen? Probably not." But the agent cautioned the Zetas are not traditional criminals, as they are military trained and take orders. With Gulf Cartel boss Osiel Cärdenas in prison and authorities taking steps to isolate him from his empire, the situation could play out similarly to what happened when Colombian cocaine king Pablo Escobar was captured and feared extradition to the United States. "Look what happened in Colombia," the agent said. "The president starts to talk about extraditing people (Cärdenas) is going to be fighting back." Colombia saw explosions, assassinations and a bomb detonated aboard a commercial airliner, killing government witnesses prepared to testify against traffickers. There have also been false alarms, including a recent bulletin in which the FBI's San Antonio office advised all U.S. federal officers of a possible plot by the Gulf Cartel to kidnap and murder two of them. After it could not be substantiated, the FBI recalled the bulletin, which warned the cartel had 250 armed men outside the border city of Matamoros and a contingent had visas to enter the United States. | |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |