Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Pascual, Feeley critiques anger Mexico

US diplomats' lack of confidence in Mexico's ability to win the narco wars is coming back to haunt the American embassy.
The Mexican press is detailing not only the rise and fall of former US Ambassador Carlos Pascual, but also the indiscretions of fellow American diplomat John Feeley. Pascual has already resigned in the wake of the WikiLeaks scandal, while Feeley's confidential cables are being trumpeted in the Mexican newspapers.
El Universal depicts Pascual as a man who upset not only President Calderon, but also the Mexican political establishment, listing four politicians who were peeved by the ex-ambassador: foreign minister Patricia Espinosa, Mexican ambassador Arturo Sarukhan, ex-minister Rosario Green and Sen. Carlos Navarrete. Green and Navarrete were concerned enough to speak of a "foreign invasion" and it seems that Calderon followed the political winds.
As for Feeley, he is facing both favorable and unfavorable winds. El Universal mentions that he has the support of ex-US Ambassador Tony Garza. However, La Jornada is quick to pounce on Feeley for his criticism of the Mexican army and politicians that became public via WikiLeaks.
Feeley slammed the army multiple times, saying among other things that it was reluctant to pursue the leaders of drug cartels and "risk-averse." He also spoke freely about politicians, saying that Defense Secretary Guillermo Galvan Galvan was seeking to declare a state of emergency to help the military against the cartels ... and questioning the merits of the past and present Procurators General, Eduardo Medina Mora and Arturo Chavez Chavez.

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