The governor of the Mexican state that borders Arizona is suing a major Mexico magazine for defamation after a story appeared accusing the governor of ties to the Sinaloa cartels.
Before I get into this, let me go on the record and say that I predict that Sonora Gov. Eduardo Bours Castelo will be the Institutional Revolution Party’s candidate for president in 2012. The man became governor in 2003, beating out the PAN-ista candidate by half a percentage point. I will take any bettors that he will be chosen to run in 2012. A few of you, and you know who you are, Dallas and Los Angeles readers, have already taken the bet (smirk).
Proceso (subscription-only, but here’s an outside link to their story) accuses the governor of staffing his cabinet with people tied to some of the hemisphere’s most powerful narco-cartels, the Beltrán Leyva family. The headline says it all: “Narco-Power in Sonora.”
The story argues that the governor already owns half the state of Sonora and now wants to own the other half.
Sketchy, sketchy reporting here with dangerously vague connections. In one example, the magazine suggests that the governor is the major supplier of crystal meth to Sonora’s citizens.
The story notes that the governor’s poultry operation, Bachoco, stuffs its chickens with ephedrine so they stay awake and eat more.
“But, just like Bachoco’s chickens, a good part of Sonora’s youth is also fighting sleep: according to the Attorney General’s Office, Sonora takes third place in the country for methamphetamine addiction, the synthetic drug made with ephedrine. Investigations reveal that distributors of this drug are protected by state police officials.”
Like most attempts to take on the powerful governor, there are some truths to be stated which I won’t go into right now, but proving those truths is something else entirely. I’m not saying Bours’ staff and family are clean; I am saying that if you’re going to make these kinds of accusations, you had best back them up.
One factual story the magazine brings up is the near-arrest of Bours’ bodyguard last year. Bours protested the raid, saying the federal agents who went to the guy’s house did not carry a search warrant which the magazine now says was untrue.
To be sure, many officials in Bours’ Administration have been accused of ties to the Sinaloans. In a few cases, proof exists.
But Proceso has been devastatingly wrong in the recent past. Last October, they reported that Heriberto Lazcano, front-man for the Gulf Cartel, had been killed in a gunfight with the Army. The story was front-page, but not true. It mysteriously disappeared from the archives a week later and nothing ever came of it.
But Bours ain’t Lazcano; this story is not going away.
El Imparcial is already reporting that the governor is readying a lawsuit against Proceso.
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