US DELEGATION APPLIES PRESSURE ON KILLINGS, POLICY

EL PASO -- Two U.S. officials on Tuesday blamed drug traffickers for
the recent murders of three people with ties to the U.S. Consulate in
Juarez.

State Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, who led a U.S. delegation to
Mexico City, and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, weighed in on the
Juarez killings.

"There is no question that they (cartels) are fighting against both of
our governments," Clinton said in closed-door remarks at the Mexico
meeting, The Associated Press reported.

"Tragically, that fact was underscored on March 13th," she said, by
the murders of two Americans and a Mexican affiliated with the U.S.
Consulate in Juarez.

Cornyn, who was in Washington, D.C., asked Senate Judiciary Committee
Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., to conduct a hearing on the rising
violence at the border.

"We were saddened and outraged to learn about the recent murders of
two U.S. citizens in (Juarez). The victims, who were affiliated with
the American consulate there, appear to have been targeted by violent
drug cartels," Cornyn said in a letter Tuesday to Leahy. "Moreover,
there is a growing concern that violent drug cartels have increased
their efforts to threaten, harass and bribe U.S. border officials."

Cornyn is on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Immigration, Refugees
and Border Security Subcommittee. He said he wants to assess the U.S.
strategy for dealing with the problem.

FBI Special Agent Andrea Simmons, spokeswoman for the FBI in El Paso,
said the FBI and other law enforcement agencies continue to work
together on the slayings investigation.

"We are meeting regularly with other agencies in El Paso, and we are
meeting with the Mexican authorities," Simmons said. "There is nothing
yet that we can report on."

Lesley Enriquez Redelfs, 35, who worked for the U.S. Consulate in
Juarez, and her husband, Arthur Redelfs, 34, were chased and killed by
armed men in a vehicle on March 13. They were driving back to El Paso
from a children's party in Juarez sponsored by the consul's office.
Arthur Redelfs worked for the El Paso County Sheriff's Office as a
detention officer.

A third person, Jorge Alberto Ceniceros Salcido, 37, of Juarez whose
wife, Hilda Antillon Jimenez, also worked for the U.S. Consulate, was
killed at nearly the same time as the Redelfs in another part of
Juarez. He, too, had left the party. Antillon was also at the party.

Soon after the murders, Mexican officials said the Aztecas gang, the
enforcement arm of the Carrillo Fuentes cartel, was responsible for
the attacks. They did not provide a motive.

Last week, the FBI, the DEA, El Paso police, the Sheriff's Office and
others carried out Operation Knockdown in order to shake down Barrio
Azteca members for information about the three murders and other
crimes. U.S. officials said Barrio Azteca, a brother organization to
the Aztecas in Juarez, also has ties to the Carrillo Fuentes cartel.

Simmons said Eduardo "Tablas" Ravelo, an alleged Barrio Azteca leader
who may be hiding in Juarez, is still one of the FBI's Top 10 Most
Wanted fugitives. The U.S. government is offering a $100,000 reward
for his capture.

The multi-agency operation led to the arrests of 54 Barrio Azteca
members and alleged associates, and to the arrest last Friday of a
suspect wanted on an attempted-murder charge.

El Paso DEA Special Agent Carmen Coutino said the attempted-murder
arrest stems from a DEA case that is unrelated to the three slayings
in Juarez. Details on that case will be forthcoming, she said.

Mexican authorities said more than 300 additional federal agents were
scheduled to arrive in Juarez this week to beef up security in the
city.

One of the slayings reported Tuesday in Juarez was believed to be that
of a city police officer, who was shot to death at his home.

And in Hudspeth County, the Sheriff's Department confirmed that it has
increased patrols at Fort Hancock and other areas along the U.S. side
of the Rio Grande.

About half a dozen families from Porvenir recently fled to Hudspeth
County because of escalating drug violence in their community across
the border. An estimated 30,000 families fled to El Paso from Juarez
during the past two years for the same reason.

More than 16,000 people have died in the Mexican drug wars, which
began in late 2006, about 4,800 of them in Juarez alone since 2008.

Clinton led the U.S. delegation that included Cabinet members and
other senior officials involved with security. They included Defense
Secretary Robert Gates; Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff; Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano;
National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair; and John Brennan,
President Obama's counterterrorism and homeland security adviser.

Senior officials from DEA, Office of National Drug Control Policy and
Justice and Treasury departments also participated in the Mexico
meeting. Among Mexican officials was Patricia Espinosa, the foreign
secretary.

"Sending a delegation of this stature to Mexico shows our level of
commitment to working with the Mexican government to help them combat
this threat within their midst, and one that ultimately permeates into
our country and becomes a threat to our citizens as well," said
Pentagon spokes man Geoff Morrell.

News from the meeting confirmed that only $128 million of the $1.3
billion in aid promised to Mexico to fight the cartels has been delivered.

However, Clinton said future aid will expand on the scope of the
original Merida Initiative, which began with the Bush administration,
and was earmarked mostly for equipment and training. She said the new
plan will include strengthening communities.

Napolitano said Mexican President Felipe Calderon made the right
decision to use the military against the drug cartels. But to prevail,
she said, the U.S. government thinks it will take a broader effort, to
include a bigger role for civilian law enforcement in Mexico and
deeper U.S. assistance.

For their part, Mexican officials asked U.S. counterparts to help
reduce the flow of weapons from the United States into Mexico, and
help cut the drug consumption that fuels the $30 billion drug trade.