FOX SECURITY MISSED CAR WITH BODIES DURING VISIT

The security for Mexican President Vicente Fox was the most professional
for a president that Juarenses have seen in memory.

Nevertheless, the Estado Mayor Presidencial (Mexico's Secret Service)
overlooked an abandoned car left nearly in front of the Cibeles
Convention Center where the president spoke last Wednesday.

The Mexican federal security service sent an advance team to scout the
area before the president's arrival, but they didn't notice the
suspicious vehicle.

After neighbors complained Thursday evening of a "putrid odor" emanating
from the car, city police went out to check, opened the trunk and found
the bodies of two men.

Officials estimate the men had been dead two days, which would mean the
abandoned car was there during Fox's Wednesday visit. Police said the
men were tortured and shot to death.

Road to Santa Teresa

While in Juarez, Fox toured a computer assembly maquiladora and
dedicated the new Francisco Villarreal Boulevard. The city thoroughfare
was named after one of Juarez's most respected ex-mayors and a member of
Fox's National Action Party.

On this trip, Fox also was to help dedicate the Samalayuca-San Jeronimo
highway that the Chihuahua state government building. But the plan was
changed at the last minute, and Fox was "not available" for the state
road ceremony.

Critics said the state failed to consult with regional planners in
Juarez and El Paso about the project and paid for it with scarce public
money. Some even charged that it would help drug dealers the most.

The road begins south of the kilometer 28 checkpoint, bypasses Juarez
and proceeds northwest to San Jeronimo, which is opposite Santa Teresa.
New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson and developers of the proposed binational
San Jeronimo-Santa Teresa community strongly support it.

The Scenario

Forget illegal drug trafficking. Could the road help legitimate
marijuana exporters and importers?

Johnson has been at the forefront of efforts to decriminalize marijuana
in New Mexico. This past session, New Mexico lawmakers narrowly defeated
efforts to decriminalize marijuana, or at least have it allowed for
medicinal purposes.

The lobby to decriminalize plans to build on the momentum. But where
does this all lead?

Well, if New Mexico decriminalizes marijuana, the raw or processed
product is going to have to come from somewhere. Based on the recent
record marijuana seizures by U.S. federal agents at El Paso
international bridges, Chihuahua state is enjoying a bumper crop this
year. Drug officials say marijuana continues to grow in Chihuahua's
central mountains.

If it becomes legal in New Mexico, the logical doorway would be the San
Jeronimo-Santa Teresa border crossing.