Waziri wa Mambo ya Ndani aaga dunia

Francisco Blake wakati akiapishwa kuwa Waziri wa Mambo ya Ndani nchini Mexico, Julai mwaka jana.
Rais wa Mexico, Filipe Calderon na mkewe wakiwa pembeni ya jeneza lenye mwili wa aliyekuwa Waziri wa Mambo ya Ndani ya Mexico, Francisco Blake.

Mabaki ya Helikopta iliyokuwa imembeba Waziri wa Mambo ya Ndani Mexico.

WAZIRI wa Mambo ya Ndani Mexico, Francisco Blake (45) amekufa baada ya helikopta aliyokuwa akisafiria kuanguka nchini humo.

Waziri Blake na watu wengine 7 walikufa Ijumaa iliyopita, na inadaiwa kuwa mtandao wa wafanyabiashara wa dawa za kulevya wamehusika kumuua.

Blake alikuwa kinara katika kupambana na mtandao huo.

Waziri blake amekufa amekufa ikiwa imepita miaka mitatu tangu Waziri mwingine wa Mambo ya Ndani Mexico afe katika ajali ya ndege.

Soma hapo chini

Mexican Interior Minister Francisco Blake and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash on Friday, in a new blow to a government struggling to shut down the country's powerful drug cartels.

"Mexico has lost a great patriot, the federal government a magnificent interior minister, and I have lost a close friend," said President Felipe Calderón, his voice breaking. He said the crash, south of Mexico City appeared to be an accident, and promised a thorough investigation.

Mr. Blake, a confidante and close friend of the president, was in charge of domestic security, taking the post in July 2010.

He wasn't seen as the driving force of the government's war on drug cartels, which has been led more by the army and the head of the Federal Police, Genaro Garcia Luna.

There was no indication of foul play, but it was too early to rule out any possibility, analysts said.

Mexico's drug cartels have assassinated state officials and federal police in the past, but so far haven't targeted high-ranking federal government officials.

Alberto Islas, a Mexico City security consultant, noting that there hadn't been any reports of a fire or an explosion on the helicopter, discounted the possibility of an assassination attempt by drug cartels.

"But if there isn't a forensic investigation whose results are made known to the public quickly, there will be rumors that it was a drug-cartel hit," he said.

Mr. Calderón said the helicopter had recently received maintenance, was kept in the presidential hangar, and had an experienced pilot.

He cited foul weather as a possible cause. Three crew members, a bodyguard, and three other Interior Ministry officials were on board.

Mr. Blake, a former federal congressman from Baja California state, was the fourth interior minister under Mr. Calderón.

Prior to his appointment he held the No. 2 post in Baja California's government, which managed to tame rising violence in Tijuana, its most important city.

Mexicans hoped Mr. Blake might recreate his success in Baja California on a national level, but rates of violence associated with the drug war have continued to rise across the country.

More than 43,000 people have died in the drug war since Mr. Calderón took power in 2006.

Mr. Blake's death came three years after another interior minister under Mr. Calderón, Juan Camilo Mouriño, was killed in an aircraft crash in Mexico City.

Despite official explanations that the crash was an accident, Mr. Mouriño's death gave rise to rumors in Mexico that he was killed by drug gangs.

Another passenger who died in the aircraft was Santiago Vasconcelos, a deputy head of the Attorney General's Office in charge of investigating organized crime.

Days before Friday's crash, Mr. Blake sent a Twitter message commemorating Mr. Mouriño's death on Nov. 4, 2008.

"Today we remember Juan Camilo Mouriño three years after his departure, a human being that worked for a better Mexico," Mr. Blake wrote.

Mr. Calderón said on Friday that, as with Mr. Mouriño, "I will miss and need Blake very much."

Mexican investigators have presented radar and video images to support their findings that fog in the mountains around the capital caused the helicopter crash that killed the country's second-highest official.

The reports eased concerns that Interior Minister Francisco Blake Mora might have fallen victim to assassination as President Felipe Calderon eulogised his top cabinet member.

Mr Blake Mora, 45, was among eight people killed when his Super Puma helicopter went down en route from Mexico City to a prosecutors' meeting in the central city of Cuernavaca.

Cameras captured foggy conditions around the capital that morning, and radar showed how the pilot left his planned route, presumably to find a clearer course, according to evidence presented on Saturday by the government.