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Mexico said it was working to improve security in the border region but suggested the U.S. State Department had overreacted by renewing a warning to U.S. travelers about drug violence in northern Mexico. As with the original travel advisory, the repeat warning on Tuesday angered Mexicans. The update blamed the continuing violence in Mexican border cities on turf battles between drug gangs but noted that was in part the result of Mexico's success in locking up cartel leaders. "Imprecisions and generalizations that hurt the spirit of cooperation in law enforcement and the fight against organized crime should be avoided," the...

A DRUG MOLE IN FOX'S CABINET?  By Michelle Malkin   ·   February 06, 2005 05:15 PM  Mexican media are reporting on the arrest of Nahum Acosta, an aide to President Vicente Fox and key member of the National Action Party (PAN) in the border state of Sonora, a notorious drug hotspot favored by the Tijuana cartel: Federal authorities have detained the head of President Vicente Fox's travel staff on suspicions he was feeding information to drug lords, Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha said Saturday. Nahúm Acosta, director of the office coordinating presidential tours, was arrested by federal agents...

Garza and bride take Mexico by storm The ambassador and the beer queen grab the headlines by Jeremy Schwartz AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Thursday, February 3, 2005 MEXICO CITY -- It is a wedding story that has captured the imagination of this country and set tongues wagging throughout the capital. Ever since the news broke Sunday that U.S. Ambassador and Brownsville native Tony Garza is engaged to Mexico's wealthiest woman and heiress to the Modelo beer empire, the couple's picture has been plastered across front pages, and they have been subject to probing speculations among the Mexican media. Will the glamorous, 41-year-old...

1200 WOAI'S Bud Little reports exclusively today that Mayor Ed Garza has asked City Manager Terry Brechtel to resign, and is trying to get support from city council to fire her if she refuses. Councilman Carroll Schubert, who is not part of the oust Brechtel effort, tells 1200 WOAI's Bud Little the move at city hall reminds him of a 'coup in a third world country.' "Mayor Garza called me last night late and told me that was the case, that he has six other individuals, plus himself, who are ready to call for the resignation of the city manager....

The U.S. ambassador says the rising death toll among Mexicans trying to cross the border illegally gives the issue 'a sense of urgency.' U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza on Tuesday said the U.S. Congress will likely approve limited migration reform in the next few months. Garza said the rising death toll among migrants trying to cross the border illegally has given the issue "a sense of urgency," and ventured that migration reform could come in "a couple of months, [perhaps] three months." "You'll see a lot of movement here pretty quickly," he told participants at an American Chamber of Commerce conference....

School teacher admits making death threat BY ADRIANA ARCE Times staff writer A Zapata elementary school teacher, who threatened to kill government agents, told a federal judge Wednesday he was angry because U.S. Border Patrol agents had caused over $100 in damage to his property. Maurilio V. Morales, 52, entered a plea of guilty before U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison to mailing a threatening communication to a federal law enforcement officer. Federal investigators claimed that the defendant had addressed a letter, dated March 20, to Gene Garza, the interim port director for Laredo under the Department of Homeland Security....

WASHINGTON (AP)--After a 14-month impasse, U.S. and Mexican officials will see if they can establish common ground on ways to revamp laws governing Mexican migration to the United States. Migration issues is one of the topics Secretary of State Colin Powell and five other senior Bush administration officials will deal with Monday and Tuesday during talks in Mexico City. Powell and his colleagues will be looking for progress in persuading Mexico to repay a huge water debt based on a 1944 treaty. Mexico's inability to pay the debt has angered many Texas ranchers. A major concern for Mexico is the...