Pubdate: Mon, 05 Feb 2001 Source: El Paso Times (TX) Copyright: 2001 El Paso Times Contact: P.O.Box 20, El Paso, Texas 79999 Fax: (915) 546-6415 Website: http://www.elpasotimes.com/ Author: Diana Washington Valdez ATTACK ON GOVERNOR A MYSTERY The shooting attack against Chihuahua Gov. Patricio Martinez is slowly turning into a political whodunit. At first, authorities said the Jan. 17 shooting appeared to be an open-and-shut case. They considered Victoria Loya, a former state police officer, solely responsible. Though police had no clear motive, they said she had a history of emotional problems that could be a factor, and she had been fired several years ago after allegedly trying to shoot her ex-husband. The governor, a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, was shot in the back of the head and came close to being killed. Fox's theory Not long after the near assassination, which shook Mexico, President Vicente Fox told reporters in Mexico City that "based on what we know about the case and our analysis," drug traffickers were involved. But back in Chihuahua, state authorities were saying the opposite -- that there is no link between drug dealers and the shooting. The way some scholars describe Mexico's political structure, and its alliances between officials and organized crime, it would be most unwise for a drug baron to attack a high-level official. Under this theory, the drug lord might carry out a hit for another official, but he could not afford to directly attack someone on his own. Loya is in custody in a Chihuahua City jail and isn't saying anything. People in Ojinaga, Mexico, a border city opposite Presidio, Texas, said they recognized Loya as an auxiliary police officer, or madrina, for federal police there. She showed up in Ojinaga after she lost her job with state police. Others have speculated that Martinez's criticism of federal police in Juarez may have stirred deep unrest in the force, and they point to Loya's former role in the federal police force. However, it's not unusual for politicians to blame police whenever they start feeling pressure from constituents, so that theory doesn't make sense. Recently, all federal police in Juarez were reassigned to other cities. But, this too, is not unusual. Occasional "purges" occur in city, state and federal police organizations. New comandantes are brought on board, and sooner or later, they're gone, too. Who benefits? Assuming Loya didn't act alone, we might speculate she was sent by someone who harbored a personal grudge against Martinez. That's usually the first, and most logical, place investigators look. If it wasn't an act of personal revenge or a hit by drug dealers, then who else could benefit from shooting the governor? Once we eliminate the other two motives, an obvious conclusion has to be another politician. It's the one theory no one has talked about yet. Should it lead in that direction, this case, like all other recent political investigations in Mexico, will get mired down in conspiracy theories before it ever gets solved. - --- MAP posted-by: Kirk Bauer