Pubdate: Sun, 11 Apr 2010
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2010 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Marc Lacey
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Mexico
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Felipe+Calderon

SMALL BOMB IS THROWN AT U.S. POST IN MEXICO

MEXICO CITY - An explosive device hurled over a wall at the United 
States Consulate in the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo on Friday 
night has renewed fears that Mexico's violent drug trafficking 
organizations may be focusing their wrath on the American government, 
which has backed President Felipe Calderon's antidrug offensive.

American officials said Saturday that the consulate in Nuevo Laredo 
and a consular office in nearby Piedras Negras were to be closed 
indefinitely beginning Monday. The attack, which occurred around 11 
p.m. Friday, shattered windows but injured no one, American officials 
said in a statement on the consulate's Web site.

In Mexico City, federal prosecutors said in a statement on Saturday 
that they were reviewing video from security cameras at the 
consulate, along with other evidence from the scene. A federal 
official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told news services 
that the explosive appeared to have been homemade.

The episode follows the shooting deaths last month of three people 
linked to the United States Consulate in Ciudad Juarez, a border city 
that has been wracked by drug-related violence recently.

In 2008, suspected traffickers threw a grenade at a consulate in 
Monterrey. The device, which did not explode, was later traced to a drug gang.

Because of threats against American interests in northern Mexico, the 
State Department last month allowed consular workers along the border 
to move their families to the United States from Mexico.

The latest attack came at a delicate time as Michelle Obama, the 
first lady, is due to arrive in Mexico City on Tuesday in what the 
White House has billed as her first solo international trip of her 
husband's presidency. The Obama administration recently vowed to 
continue backing Mr. Calderon's efforts to crush Mexico's powerful 
drug cartels. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake