In Mexico these days, mistaken identities seem to be happening at a terrifying rate. There have been three major incidents where people with ties to the American government have been shot or killed while working in Mexico and each time, we are told they were not targeted for their work and that it was merely a case of mistaken identity. Friday’s announcement that Mexican federal police had fired on two Americans riding in a convoy was no different, down to the official silence that blanketed it.
Briefly, two U.S. Embassy employees were traveling with a Mexican Navy officer when the federal police opened fire on their vehicle, a Toyota SUV. El Universal news notes that the SUV bore diplomatic plates, which should have at least raised the officers’ level of caution. The officers opened fire after the SUV failed to stop for them. Three other vehicles helped chase down the SUV, opening fire on it. The Mexican Navy captain called for help. The police only stopped firing when the military arrived. Police recovered more than 60 shell casings at the scene. Excelsior has an excellent graphic reconstructing the incident. The Associated Press notes it took the U.S. State Department nearly 12 hours to issue a statement.
So far, publicly at least, the incident has not marred the relationship between the countries. There is clearly an ongoing effort between both countries to continue presenting a unified front to these types of incidences. That's something I noted in my last piece on ATF's gunwalking scandal, Operation Fast and Furious. Mexico seemed, again, publicly, at least, to accept the Americans' version of events, that the flawed program was strictly a local operation out of Phoenix, not Washington, D.C.
Such defensive measures are not new. In 2010, both countries insisted that the murders of three people tied to the U.S. consulate in Cd. Juárez were a case of mistaken identity. I've always found it interesting that when the leader of the gang responsible for the murders was sentenced, the Justice Department made no mention of the motive for the killings. Here, the FBI at least initially, said it believed the murders were a case of mistaken identity. After that, the agency stopped discussing motive altogether.
In 2011, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata was killed while driving with his partner in San Luis Potosi. The accused told Mexican authorities that was also a case of mistaken identity.
In that case, we may never know what American agents learned about the motive for the murder. The special agent's testimony to a grand jury about the investigation was accidentally erased.
Myself, I'm not big on conspiracy theories; I like facts. But when it comes to Americans murdered in Mexico, facts are hard to come by.
