I think Tony Garza may be the fall guy in all of this. IIRC, he put out the first notice September 2004. This was mainly in regards to the Reynosa police robbing Americans at ATMs. The notice in essence told Americans not to take debit cards, credit cards or much cash to Mexico. As the crime in Mexico escalated this fall, Garza put out more notices even referring to the killings.
This week the State Department put out a notice. This notice is the one that really got the Mexican officials in a snit.
I wonder why Condi Rice is silent on this especially since 2 FBI agents have been threatened within the last 24 hours.
What would you want her to say? She can't oppose presidential policy.