Pubdate: Wed, 27 Oct 2010
Source: El Paso Times (TX)
Copyright: 2010 El Paso Times
Contact: http://www.elpasotimes.com/townhall/ci_14227323
Website: http://www.elpasotimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/829
Author: Adriana Gomez Licon

EX-CHIHUAHUA AG SEEKS HELP ON KIDNAPPING CASE

The former attorney general of Chihuahua said she would seek help
outside Mexico to solve her brother's kidnapping after a video showed
her abducted sibling accusing her of having narco ties.

In the video, Mario Gonzalez Rodriguez, while held at gunpoint, said
his sister Patricia Gonzalez Rodriguez has protected the Juarez drug
cartel. When questioned, he also said she ordered the murders of two
journalists, as well as Mormon community members in the Colonia
LeBaron in northwest Chihuahua.

Mario Gonzalez, kidnapped last week, appears in the video seated and
handcuffed, ringed by five gunmen in military uniforms. The video
popped up on the Internet Monday. In 10 minutes, Mario Gonzalez
answers questions from a man off-camera about high-profile killings
and kidnappings supposedly carried out by La Linea, or the Juarez drug
cartel.

Patricia Gonzalez appeared Tuesday on Milenio Television, a national
network, and denied the claims her brother made. She said police
officers working for the Sinaloa drug cartel, Juarez's rival
organization, are behind the video. They were seeking revenge for the
cracking down on some of their cartel members, she said.

Patricia Gonzalez also said on TV that she is suspicious about the
place where the video was filmed because it looks like a state
government office she personally designed.

The Mexican attorney general and Chihuahua state attorney general's
office are investigating the video to determine how much of what Mario
Gonzalez claims is true. They are both also investigating his kidnapping.

But Patricia Gonzalez said she is looking for international help to
get her brother back because she suspects the government is involved
in the kidnapping.

Officials with the federal attorney general and state attorney general
offices said they are not asking for help from American law
enforcement agencies. But they said Patricia Gonzalez could make the
request.

Gonzalez ended her term as attorney general in early October. She
could not be reached by the El Paso Times for comment.

U.S. Embassy officials in Mexico said they could not confirm or deny
whether Patricia Gonzalez will receive help from law enforcement
agencies. FBI spokesman Brian Weiss said the agency would consider
providing assistance if it received official orders from the U.S.
State Department.

Under the Merida Initiative, the two nations have expanded
intelligence systems, placing agents along the border this year to
help track down drug cartels. The U.S. Consulate has also responded to
kidnappings in Juarez of U.S. citizens. Mario Gonzalez is a Mexican
citizen, U.S. Consulate officials said Tuesday.

In the video, the gunmen appeared to have professional training. Their
AK-47s have two magazines taped together for quick reload. At the end
of the video, one of the gunmen standing right behind Mario Gonzalez
approaches him, and it sounds as if he triggers his gun, but the rifle
does not fire.

"I think those are very delicate accusations," said Alex LeBaron, a
state lawmaker in Chihuahua and cousin of the two Mormon community
members who were killed in 2009. "We can't completely ignore what he
is saying. My family is very disturbed; our whole community is disturbed."

Carlos Gonzalez, spokesman for the Chihuahua state attorney general,
said the office make judgments based on the video.

"The victim is surrounded by gunmen," he said. "We can't determine if
what he is saying is true."

Gonzalez said authorities have not identified the men in the video or
the place it was made.

He also said the government is helping Patricia Gonzalez find her
brother. Mario Gonzalez was kidnapped Thursday afternoon at his law
office near downtown Chihuahua City.

"We are doing everything to find him alive," he said.  
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