I was all set to live blog election night... when something terrible and closer to home happened...

Mexico’s Interior Minister Killed in Jet Crash AP by way of NYT

Confirma Presidencia muerte de Mouriño


Juan Camilo Mouriño, Méxican Secretario de Gobernación (Minister of the Interior) was killed in a jet crash today. He was travelling from San Luis Potosí to Mexico City on a Learjet, when his plan crashed 12.6 kilometers from the airport (Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de Mexico). It all points to narcotráfico.

Mouriño was a young, good looking heir apparent, had been in office less than a year, transferred from the Oficina de la Presidencia (a relatively new department).

Per the NYT: "He headed the government’s security apparatus and was the President’s point man in the increasingly bloody drug war."

He hadn't been doing so well, especially with the energy reform. Ties to Pemex and family businesses hadn't helped.

My paranoid conspiracy theory mind points to a narco / inside job. Mouriño was a close friend of Calderón, but there must be somebody high up who takes it upon himself to do the dirty jobs. To offer the mob Mouriño in exchange for, what?
This is a big emotional hit, but the Secretary wasn't being as effective as initially hoped.

The problem is now who will take his place? Cesar Nava? Josefina Vazquez Mota? Is the country still governable? Yes, this might help the PAN get elected next year since they can be martyrs (they can also lose because they're not competent), but jesus christ was I stunned and yanked back into reality when I heard this news. There is more than one Mexico. But we all live in the same space. ANd sometimes those worlds don't just brush against each other, they crash into each other.