Posted on 12/15/2006 9:56:03 PM PST by NormsRevenge
MEXICO CITY - Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Friday named a single commander for two federal police agencies and appointed a former peace negotiator with the Zapatista rebels as head of Indian affairs.
Ardelio Vargas, previously chief of staff at the Federal Preventative Police, was named as commissioner of both that force and the Federal Investigative Agency.
The preventative force is largely used to police riots and for routine patrols, while the investigative force probes and puts together criminal cases. Many experts argue it would be better to have a single agency that does both.
Calderon, who took office Dec. 1, has long proposed greater unification of Mexican police forces.
Calderon's office said in a statement that Vargas' appointment "will allow for the adding together of the powers, abilities and technical capacities" of both agencies.
Luis H. Alvarez will lead the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples.
Alvarez, 91, is a longtime stalwart of Calderon's conservative National Action Party, like many other top officials appointed by the president. He first ran for public office with the party in 1956.
But unlike the previous head — Xochitl Galvez, who resigned Dec. 6 after complaining about apparent agency budget cuts — Alvarez is not one of Mexico's approximately 12.5 million Indians.
The agency channels government aid and development programs to Indian communities.
In his previous position, Alvarez sought to establish talks with the leftist Zapatista rebels, who staged a brief armed uprising in January 1994 in Chiapas state to demand greater Indian rights. Despite an uneasy truce since then, Alvarez had little success in talking to the Zapatistas, who still reject the federal government's authority.
What the headline means is that they will now all collect their bribes from a common source.
Mexican presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who lost the elections to Felipe Calderon last July and has since claimed fraud, holds up a banner saying 'Lopez Obrador, Legitimate President of Mexico' during a visit to the resort city of Cancun, Mexico on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2006. Last Nov 20, Lopez Obrador was named legitimate president of Mexico by his supporters and does not recognize the new government.(AP Photo/Israel Leal)
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