Pubdate: Fri, 30 Jan 2009 Source: El Paso Times (TX) Copyright: 2009 El Paso Times Contact: http://www.elpasotimes.com/formnewsroom Website: http://www.elpasotimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/829 Author: Diana Washington Valdez Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/mexico STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TO SPEAK TO EL PASO CHAMBER ABOUT DRUG VIOLENCE IN MEXICO EL PASO - A State Department official will speak about the drug violence in Mexico during a visit to the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce on Monday, U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, announced. The official, William J. McGlynn, is principal deputy assistant secretary of the State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement. "Mr. McGlynn is preeminently qualified to share insights about what is really going on in Mexico, and between the governments of Mexico and the United States, during these dangerous times being endured below the border," said Reyes, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. McGlynn was formerly coordinator of the Foreign Policy Advisor Program in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. He also served as deputy chief of mission in Portugal, and had other overseas assignments in Haiti, Gabon, the U.S. Mission to the European Union in Brussels and Austria. Initially, the chamber announced that Monday's speaker was going to be David T. Johnson, assistant secretary of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement. Johnson spoke last year at the University of Texas at El Paso to promote the Merida Initiative, a $1.4 billion package for Mexico and Central America to slow organized crime and stabilize their governments. Chamber officers said Johnson is traveling to Mexico next week for a meeting with officials in that country. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin