Thread: State Department ‘Blissfully Silent’ on Murder Probe

Falcon Lake Lawmaker: State Department ‘Blissfully Silent’ on Murder Probe

Published October 13, 2010
FoxNews.com

The State Department has not delivered diplomatic assistance to the widow of a man shot down by drug lords while on a jet ski trip on the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. Rep. Ted Poe said Wednesday.

Poe, R-Texas, whose district contains the U.S. side of border-straddling Falcon Lake, said Tiffany Hartley did not even receive help from the U.S. consulate in Mexico to file a complaint against members of the Zeta drug cartel that is suspected of shooting David Hartley while the couple was skiing through the Mexican side of the border weeks ago.

"There seems to be inefficiency on this issue. She shouldn't have to be filing charges" on her own, Poe said, noting that the Mexican authorities were slow to help Hartley in part because they said she made no official complaint to the proper authorities.

The State Department has also been "blissfully silent" on efforts to convince the Mexican authorities to let U.S. investigators help search for Hartley's body, Poe told FoxNews.com. The department must convince Mexican officials to let the FBI and U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency investigators help conduct the search for Hartley's body and for the culprits, he said.

Poe sent a letter Oct. 4 to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying helping Hartley recover her husband's body is "the least" the State Department can do.

"We followed up yesterday to see when they were going to respond and they could not respond to our response," Poe said, adding that he hopes to have a reply soon from Clinton, who is traveling abroad right now.

The State Department has not responded to Fox News' request for comment, but the nation's diplomatic headquarters has warned Americans not to go to trouble spots in Mexico where drug traffickers control the country. Tamaulipas, where the Hartleys were visiting on the day of David Hartley's murder, is one of those areas.

Zapata County Sheriff Sigi Gonzalez, who was first to hear Hartley's account, said he has warned Hartley not to return to Mexico to give a statement to authorities there.

"Tiffany has given her official statement at the Mexican Consulate in Texas. She was assured by the government officials of Mexico and the consulate that her statement would go to any agency in Mexico that would request a copy of it," Gonzalez told Fox News, adding that the statement is "available to all Mexican agencies that may request them. I'd like to know what agency in Mexico is conducting the investigation of Mr. Hartley's murder because it was a murder case."

Poe said he doesn't think Americans any should be going to Mexico right now, and compared the danger to standing on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. He noted that the U.S. basketball teams playing in a pre-season game in Mexico City this week were forced to stay in their hotel and "couldn't go anywhere except with armed guards."

"Portions of the Texas-Mexico border are in operational control of the drug cartels," Poe said. "I would tell Americans not to go to Mexico. ... the rule of law is breaking down."

Poe said that some Mexican officials are corrupt but others, including Rolando Flores Villegas, the police officer who took up Hartley's search and was found beheaded on Tuesday, are honest Mexican authorities overwhelmed by a drug war that has taken the lives of dozens of Americans and thousands of Mexicans.

"I'm sure they're intimidated, that's obvious," he said. "If they don't work for the drug cartels, the drug cartels go after them and use their bodies as intimidation."

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, who is Hartley's congressional representative, expressed his "deepest sympathies" to the Flores family, noting that the police officer was killed for conducting the murder investigation.

"Commandante Flores had a reputation for cooperation and camaraderie with his American counterparts and he will sorely be missed. Commandante Flores and many of his peers had continued to search for David Hartley in the face of grave threats and imminent danger. This tragic incident demonstrates the continued efforts of the Mexican law enforcement community to help us in America solve the Hartley case," Cuellar said.

Meanwhile, Poe said the United States should reconsider financial aid to Mexico, which received $1 billion for the Merida Initiative aimed at helping law enforcement investigations but came with no strings attached.

"I wouldn't be surprised if part of that money went to drug cartels," he said, adding that he has no knowledge of any accounting or audit of the cash assistance.

"Money always talks and we should limit and control any money that we send to Mexico," Poe said.

But Cuellar said the Merida Initiative, for which he is a vocal proponent, provides "ample support for our international partners in border security."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/10 ... latestnews

Business as usual!

But if an illegal invader from south of the border is shot in this country, our elected officials are falling all over themselves offering support and kissing the ass of their consulars in this country.

Go figure!

Poe, R-Texas, whose district contains the U.S. side of border-straddling Falcon Lake,

HUH? Poe's district is texas 2, which is southeast texas from beaumont to NE of the Houston area.

the lake is in the district of Henry Cuellar

Originally Posted by NoBueno

But if an illegal invader from south of the border is shot in this country, our elected officials are falling all over themselves offering support and kissing the ass of their consulars in this country.

Go figure!

You got that right! And Billary would be apologizing for the barbarians that Americans are... Obozo would be handing out visas for any and all of the "victims" family. But since the show is on the other foot, they are hoping that by ignoring everything about this case that it will just go away.

The State Department website is very interesting.

i think this is the departmen responsible for intertion with Mexico. The head of that department served on the board of the National Council of LARAZA.

Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs

The Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs is headed by Assistant Secretary of State Arturo A. Valenzuela, who is responsible for managing and promoting U.S. interests in the region by supporting democracy, trade, and sustainable economic development, and fostering cooperation on issues such as citizen safety, strengthening democratic institutions and the rule of law, economic and social inclusion, energy, and climate change. More about WHA»

The Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs is headed by Assistant Secretary of State Arturo A. Valenzuela, who is responsible for managing and promoting U.S. interests in the region by supporting democracy, trade, and sustainable economic development, and fostering cooperation on issues such as drug trafficking and crime, poverty reduction, and environmental protection.

Mission: We are working with our partners in the Americas to generate broad-based growth through freer trade and sound economic policies; to invest in the well-being of people from all walks of life; and to make democracy serve every citizen more effectively and justly.

Objectives: We are strengthening an Inter-American community formed by:

Economic partners that are democratic, stable, and prosperous;
Friendly neighbors that help secure our region against terrorism and illegal drugs;
Nations that work together in the world to advance shared political and economic values.
http://www.state.gov/p/wha/


Arturo Valenzuela

Assistant Secretary

Western Hemisphere Affairs

Term of Appointment: 11/10/2009 to present

Dr. Arturo Valenzuela assumed responsibilities as Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs on November 10, 2009. Dr. Valenzuela was previously Professor of Government and Director of the Center for Latin American Studies in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He is a specialist on the origins and consolidation of democracy, the institutional dimensions of democratic governance, Latin American politics, and U.S.-Latin American relations. Prior to joining the Georgetown faculty he was Professor of Political Science and Director of the Council on Latin American Studies at Duke University. He has been a Visiting Scholar at Oxford University, the University of Sussex, the University of Florence (Italy) and the Catholic University of Chile.


During the Clinton administration, Dr. Valenzuela served at the White House as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Inter-American Affairs at the National Security Council and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Inter-American Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, where his primary responsibility was United States foreign policy towards Mexico. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, he has been listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in American Higher Education and has served on the editorial boards of leading academic journals. For his diplomatic contributions he has been honored with the National Order of the Southern Cross by the government of Brazil and the Order of Boyacá by the government of Colombia.


Dr. Valenzuela has served on the board of directors of Drew University, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and the advisory boards of America’s Watch and the Institut des Amériques in Paris. He holds a Doctorate and a Master’s degree in Political Science from Columbia University, and a B.A. summa cum laude in Political Science and Religion from Drew University.

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/131802.htm

Mexico (Mexico, D.F.) WHA/MEX 647-9894

OR
Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
The United States recognizes that the problems of drug and drug-related violence require a comprehensive solution. Democratic institutions in drug-producing regions must become stronger, more responsive, more inclusive, and more transparent."
--Assistant Secretary Johnson




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), headed by Assistant Secretary David T. Johnson, advises the President, Secretary of State, other bureaus in the Department of State, and other departments and agencies within the U.S. Government on the development of policies and programs to combat international narcotics and crime. INL programs support two of the Department's strategic goals: (1) to reduce the entry of illegal drugs into the United States; and (2) to minimize the impact of international crime on the United States and its citizens. Counternarcotics and anticrime programs also complement counterterrorism efforts, both directly and indirectly, by promoting modernization of and supporting operations by foreign criminal justice systems and law enforcement agencies charged with the counter-terrorism mission.



David T. JohnsonAssistant Secretary

Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs

Term of Appointment: 10/31/2007 to present

David T. Johnson was sworn in as Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs on October 31, 2007. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Johnson served as Deputy Chief of Mission for the US Embassy in London from August 2003 until July 2007.

Mr. Johnson, of Georgia, entered the United States Foreign Service in 1977. He served as the Afghan Coordinator for the United States from May 2002 to July 2003. He served as United States Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) from January 1998 until December 2001. Before serving as Ambassador to the OSCE, Mr. Johnson was Deputy Press Secretary for Foreign Affairs at the White House and Spokesman for the National Security Council from 1995 to 1997. Previously, he served as Deputy Spokesman at the State Department and Director of the State Department Press Office; United States Consul General in Vancouver; and Deputy Director of the State Department's Operations Center.

Mr. Johnson has also worked in the Department of State on European security issues and as desk officer for Berlin, Austria, and Switzerland; an economic officer at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin; and a vice consul at the U.S. Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez. Before joining the Foreign Service, Mr. Johnson was an Assistant National Trust Examiner with the Treasury Department's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Mr. Johnson earned a B.A. in economics from Emory University in 1976. He attended Canada's National Defense College in 1989-1990. He is married with three children.
http://www.state.gov/p/inl/

OR

Office of the Inspector General.
http://oig.state.gov/