Mexican lawmaker takes post in U.S. to avoid assassination

Drug cartels seen to be gunning for high-level officials

By Kevin G. Hall
MCT NEWS SERVICE
San Diego Union Tribune
August 10, 2008

MEXICO CITY – Mexican congressman David Figueroa had survived two assassination attempts when federal intelligence officials passed the news to him: They had heard that a third try would be made.

Figueroa took it seriously. He dropped out of the race for governor of Sonora state and, with the help of Mexico's president, was confirmed in late July to be the country's consul in San Jose.

His departure for California highlights what appears to be an alarming trend in Mexico's bloody war against drug traffickers: While drug cartels have long targeted local police, they also have been striking at higher-level officials, including some close to President Felipe Calderón.

Calderón has made curbing the drug trade a central policy of his administration. He has dispatched more than 40,000 soldiers all over Mexico to combat the gangs. This year, by the count of two leading Mexican newspapers, there have been at least 2,400 drug-related slayings nationwide. That almost equals the roughly 2,500 drug-related killings for all of last year.

Figueroa, a member of the president's conservative National Action Party, headed Calderón's 2006 presidential campaign in Sonora.
Figueroa first earned the enmity of drug traffickers while mayor of Agua Prieta, a border town across from Douglas, Ariz.

He publicly attributed his departure from the governor's race to a desire to spend more time with his family. But he revealed the real reason behind his departure in an interview in Mexico's Congress building after his diplomatic appointment was approved.

“They send a clear message,â€