El Paso Police investigate threats against Juarez mayor
By Diana Washington Valdez / El Paso Times
Posted: 02/23/2009 01:44:39 PM MST


Chihuahua Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza Terrazas and state Attorney General Patricia Gonzalez had a news conference near midnight Sunday to provide some details about an attack in Chihuahua City that killed one of the governor's guards, Alejandro Chaparro Coronel, and wounded two others. (Chihuahua governor's office)
Audio: News conference from Chihuahua Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza Terrazas

EL PASO - The El Paso Police Department is investigating alleged threats against Juárez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz, who reportedly moved his family to El Paso for safety reasons, Det. Carlos Carrillo said Monday.

"We received information that the Juárez mayor lives in El Paso, and that possibly they were going to come to El Paso to get him," Carrillo said. "He has not asked us for our help, but it's our duty to protect any resident of our city who may be under threat."

Juárez police said written threats against Reyes Ferriz and his family were left in different parts of Juárez after ex-police chief Roberto Orduña Cruz resigned Friday.

The threats were written on banners the Juárez drug cartel has used to send messages to the police and others.

In light of the threats, Juárez city spokesman Sergio Belmonte said the mayor has increased security for himself and other city officials.

Chihuahua state officials said they are going to call a news conference later Monday to provide more details about Sunday's shooting attack that killed one of Chihuahua Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza Terrazas' bodyguards.

The bodyguard who was killed while defending another state official was identified as Alejandro Chaparro Coronel.

Officials said one of the armed men who allegedly killed Chaparro was injured and taken to a hospital.
The Chihuahua governor, who drove his own vehicle, with the bodyguards behind him, said earlier he did not know whether the attack was against him or stemmed from a traffic-related dispute between his guards and the armed suspects.

"We cannot speculate and will comment only about what we know," the governor said.

Fernando Alvarez Monge, Chihuahua state coordinator of Partido Accion Nacional (PAN) called for "a speedy, transparent and efficient investigation into the attack against the Chihuahua governor's security convoy."

Reyes Baeza and Reyes Ferriz belong to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

In 2001, Patricio Martinez Garcia, the Chihuahua state governor at the time, survived an assassination attempt by the Juárez drug cartel.

The FBI had warned him in advance about the cartel's plans, and then President Vicente Fox blamed the cartel for the attack on Martinez. A Chihuahua state policewoman was imprisoned in connection with the attack.

Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at dvaldez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6140.

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