MEXICO CITY – Mexican President Felipe Calderon replaced his point man in the drug war Monday, accepting the resignation of the attorney general whose image was tarnished by charges that his top confidant was on the take.
The departure of Attorney General Eduardo Medina-Mora constituted the biggest shakeup in Calderon's offensive against organized crime. The president said it signified the second phase of his six-year presidency, which will reach its halfway mark in December.
Calderon said the changes did not signal a relaxation in the government's assault on vicious drug cartels.
But the president's all-out war has drawn criticism as more than 13,500 people have been killed in unrelenting drug-related violence since he took office in late 2006, and his party lost ground in midterm elections in July. Some experts wondered whether the attorney general switch meant the government was considering new approaches.
Calderon also replaced two other Cabinet positions. Agriculture Secretary Alberto Cardenas and the director of the state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, Jesus Reyes Heroles, resigned.
The president said he will send the Senate the nomination of Arturo Chavez, a little known lawyer who has worked as both a state and federal prosecutor, to replace Medina-Mora. He "has wide experience in law and specifically in combatting organized crime," Calderon said.
Chavez was the top federal prosecutor and state attorney general in the northern state of Chihuahua, across the border from Texas and home to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico's deadliest city. With more than 1,300 killed this year, the state has seen the worst of Mexico's drug violence and police corruption — two of the biggest challenges facing the new attorney general.
Chavez, who was not at the ceremony, has also worked for the Interior Department, where he was a mediator in the 2006 conflict between teachers and the state goverment that paralized the colonial city of Oaxaca for five months.
Medina-Mora's campaign against corruption led to the arrest of several mayors and high-ranking law enforcement officials in the last year. Among them was his subordinate, former drug czar Noe Ramirez, who was arrested for allegedly taking at least $450,000 from a member of a drug cartel in exchange for passing on information about police operations.
While the president indicated the war on drug gangs won't stop, experts questioned if the government might be considering new approaches after deploying more than 45,000 soldiers and federal police to try to quell criminal activities in Mexico's drug hotspots. There have been widespread complaints about the bloodshed touched off by the fight.
Jose Luis Pineyro, a drug expert at Mexico's National Autonomous University, said the departure of Medina-Mora could indicate some change in the government's tactics in the drug fight, which have sparked bloody reprisal attacks by cartels.
"Perhaps this change in the AG office could be an attempt to change the anti-crime strategy and adopt a tactic that a lot of my colleagues have suggested," Pineyro said. "As long as there is a lack of attention to attacking the financial nerve center and property of organized crime, you're not going to make progress."
Former top anti-drug prosecutor Samuel Gonzalez said that Medina-Mora's performance had been "average" and that "change was necessary."
Cabinet changes at midterm are not unusual in Mexico. Calderon, whose term runs to late 2012, gave no explanation for the three resignations, although there had been speculation for some time that Medina-Mora would be leaving. He will be assigned to an unspecified foreign post.
Calderon, who named Medina-Mora to lead his drug war after taking office, praised his contributions.
"His professionalism, his commitment and loyalty to Mexico have been crucial in pushing forward the modernization and the cleaning of the justice department and in hitting hard organized crime like we have done," Calderon said Monday.
The outgoing attorney general has also been highly praised by U.S. law enforcement officials.
Associated Press Writer Mark Stevenson in Mexico City contributed to this report.
Jonathan M. Romano Skate Park as the sun sets. AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, Nick de la Torre
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