MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Calderón reveals he was alerted of plans by Mexican cartels to kill him
The Mexican president leaves office next month after six years 
The offensive against drug cartels has left over 55.000 people killed Mexican President Felipe Calderón was warned during the early years of his administration of a credible threat to assassinate him while he was in the presidential jet, Mexican media reported on Sunday.
According to reports in major newspapers, Calderón said that security advisers told him before a trip within Mexico that they had information about the assassination attempt, although he took the plane anyway.
The trip went smoothly, but Calderón was concerned enough to record a video message for his children before the trip in case he was killed, the reports quoted him as saying. Calderón has spoken before about threats he received after launching a war against drug cartels, but never in any detail.
“Before the trip I recorded a message for my children in which I assured them that in case something happened to me, they should be sure of knowing that their father was carrying out work which he felt to be necessary” Universal newspaper quoted him as saying during a private party for his 50th birthday.
The threat was relayed to Calderon by the head of the presidential guard, General Jesus Castillo, according to Excelsior newspaper.
“They had uncovered information that they wanted to make an attempt against the presidential plane. He told me that this was not the first time that there had been threats against the president but this time they were credible,” Calderón said, according to Excelsior.
Excelsior said the assassination threat may have taken place in 2008. However, another daily newspaper, Milenio, said the threat took place in 2007.
In March 2007, Calderon said he had received threats to his life. “We have received a lot of threats and will no doubt receive more,” he said in the 2007 interview. “We don't know if they are real or false.”
Since taking office in December 2006, Calderón has led a national offensive against drug cartels, in which more than 55,000 people have died and security forces have arrested or shot dead major kingpins and made record seizures of narcotics.
Cartel gunmen have struck back by assassinating some senior law enforcement officials, including the acting head of the federal police in 2008, and are also alleged to have murdered more than 3,000 other police officers, soldiers, judges and mayors during Calderón's administration.
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Read all commentsCalderon's rule has been a disaster, and Pena Nieto is gearing up to be just as bad if not worse. Its a shame the electoral cycle in Mexico is so long and it will be 6 years before they have the chance to do the now totally obvious thing and elect PRD
Aug 20th, 2012 - 08:51 am 0Is hard to go for the PRD when their candidate is just parading around saying how he is the “Legitimate president” and doing campaing since 6 years ago. So he basically was asking for a reelection(which is ilegal in mexico), given he was already “legitimate president”. Also, when asked about what he would do about violence he was very vague and just offering asking “professional ppl” , not that diferent from the other candidates really, his foreing policy was too centered about Mexico´s relationship with the US, which would have affected Calderon´s recent aproaching of Latam after Fox´s dissater, especially with the Pacific Alliance, but, to be fair, all candidates were talking like that, again, not that much of a difference between him and the rest.
Aug 20th, 2012 - 05:00 pm 0Also, Michoacan, a traditionaly PRD led state is very much in danger and in constant crisis too, given the relaxed actitude autorities had about crime in general and organized crime in particular. Something that repeates itself in the municipalities most affected by this, that is just really the result of years of weak institutional leadership and a need of judicial reforms, nobody is giving Calderon any medal for his security policy but during his reing there was some reforms passed and improving police specially federal.
But indeed, with all problems with security, ppl thought PRI could take care of them with their style, PRI is a especial case in relation to political ideology in Mexico, they can take either the right or the left side if that beneficies them , PAN-PRD knew this, they knew they would need to make an alliance if they espected to have a chance at taking on PRI this elections, but Obrador would have none of it and imposed on PRD a repeat of his candidacy with the other left parties. his actual digust´s and PRD is in part his and the party´s fault really.
Now PRI, yes, is horrible they were elected IMO, the only thing I liked about this elections was that they dont have congress majority.
2 Elena,
Aug 20th, 2012 - 05:48 pm 0Excellent take on the Mexican situation. Indeed Lopez Obrador is nothing but a populist demagogue with no real solutions to fix many of the huge problems the country faces.
I have voted for PAN for many years and I did so in the last election with Josefina Vazquez Mota, so I was not at all sympathetic to the idea of having the PRI back in power.
I have to disagree with you in that PRI can take either right or left, the PRI of the sixties and seventies defended leftist agendas, nationalizations, centralization of resources and economic activity and created the state monopolies like PEMEX, CFE and others. But the PRI changed with Salinas de Gortari, new technocrats, or more market-oriented politicians, took the control of the party and it has been ever since.
Peña Nieto is market-oriented and will seek infrastructural reforms to continue the modernization of the mexican economy. Although I did not vote for him, I don´t buy all the negative propaganda that the left and left-leaning newspapers and media have thrown at him for the past year. I´d give him the benefit of the doubt.
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