A NEW SPATE OF VIOLENCE ROILS MEXICO

MEXICO CITY-Mexico's war on powerful drug cartels suffered a series of
setbacks on Friday, including the disappearance of a prosecutor
charged with investigating this week's massacre of 72 migrants, and
twin explosions that suggested cartels are trying to become proficient
in car bombs.

On the same day, the U.S. State Department said it will pull out all
children of its diplomatic personnel in Mexico's business capital of
Monterrey. Coming after a gunbattle last week in front of an elite
school that killed two private security guards, the move is a sign the
U.S. believes the local government has lost control of the city to
warring criminal forces.

President Felipe Calderon, reacting to the stream of bad news, told
Mexicans on Friday that they need to brace themselves for more
violence in the days and months ahead, though he stressed that the
government would prevail in the end.

"In the short run, we have to admit it, it's likely that the violence
will persist and even increase before it begins to fall dramatically,"
Mr. Calderon said.

Early in the day, news spread fast that a prosecutor from the northern
state of Tamaulipas charged with investigating the massacre of the
migrants near the Texas border had disappeared along with another
state official involved in the case, stoking fears that both men have
been killed, officials said.

The state attorney general's office in Tamaulipas said Roberto Suarez
and another state official disappeared on Thursday, shortly after they
were assigned to the case of some 58 men and 14 women from Honduras,
El Salvador, Ecuador and Brazil allegedly killed by a drug gang.

Mexican media reported that Mexican marines had found Mr. Suarez's
body dumped alongside a highway. But a spokeswoman for Mexico's navy
said she couldn't confirm that report.

Some in Mexico speculated the officials have been killed, while others
said the officials may have walked off the job and are in hiding,
fearing the case was too dangerous.

The disappearance feeds concerns that Mexico is struggling to protect
the very people in charge of trying to attack powerful drug gangs
responsible for the vast majority of some 28,500 deaths in
drug-related murders since Mr. Calderon took power in December 2006.
Nearly every week, a federal police officer is killed by drug gangs.

Further south in Tamaulipas, meanwhile, two cars exploded minutes
apart in Ciudad Victoria, the state capital. The first went off in
front of the offices of Mexico's leading broadcaster Televisa, while
the second blew up in front of transit police offices.

Neither blast caused injuries or significant damage, but they are the
fourth and fifth such incidents in the past few months.

Federal intelligence officials privately say they consider the devices
too rudimentary to be considered car bombs, which normally involve a
much bigger blast. But they also say the incidents suggest something
new and worrisome: That drug gangs are trying to gain the expertise to
set off powerful car bombs like those used in Iraq and Colombia.

Tamaulipas has become a flashpoint for violence in Mexico since late
last year, after two former allies in the drugs trade-the so-called
Gulf Cartel and their former enforcers, the Zetas-turned their sights
on each other in a violent turf war. The state is prime real estate
for the drugs trade because it shares a long border with Texas.

Friday's decision by the U.S. State Department to pull out children of
diplomatic personnel in Monterrey came after what it said was weeklong
review, following a gunbattle last week in front of the elite American
School Foundation between presumed Zetas and private guards working
for Femsa CAB de SB, the Mexican beverage company.

The shootout, which lasted for about 20 minutes, sent children dashing
into the cafeteria for cover, according to a parent of a student.

Monterrey joins a short list of postings where the State Department
allows only adult family members to accompany their diplomats, which
includes Chad, Lebanon, Sudan and Yemen.

"This is recognition that we don't believe there is a force in
Monterrey capable of stopping drug trafficking organizations when they
decide that what they want is to block the streets, kidnap somebody,
or break into a school," said a U.S. official. About 25 families of
U.S. diplomatic staff in Monterrey will be affected by the measure,
another U.S. official said.

The official said that Monterrey's various municipal police forces are
deeply penetrated by drug-trafficking organizations.

Companies including General Electric Co. and Whirlpool Corp., which
have operations in Monterrey, declined to disclose security details.
"The safety of our employees and their families is of utmost
importance," said Sue Bishop, a spokeswoman for GE.

In a statement, Mexico's foreign ministry said, "Mexico reiterates its
commitment to security, including that of foreign diplomatic
personnel. Mexico respects the decisions made by the United States
about the security of its personnel and its diplomatic missions. The
investigations being carried out by the responsible authorities about
the incident at the American School are of high priority."

Nuevo Leon state officials said they were taking the U.S. warning
seriously. "The government of Nuevo Leon, in close coordination with
authorities at all levels, including the army, is working day and
night and is making progress to ensure the safety of all people,
especially children," said Javier Trevino, the state's lieutenant governor.

U.S diplomatic personnel at six of nine of the consulates in Mexico,
all of them along Mexico's border with the U.S., draw extra danger
pay. Earlier this year, the consulate in Juarez, one of the busiest
and largest in the world, was temporarily shut down to conduct a
security review after a consular employee and two other people with
relations to the consulate post were gunned down after leaving a
children's party.

Mr. Calderon faces an uphill battle in stemming the violence. This
week, his administration held five days of conferences on how to
improve the government's strategy against organized crime. It unveiled
a new bill aimed at hurting cartel finances by making it illegal to
make purchases of homes and cars in cash-a common practice in Mexico.

But Mr. Calderon's drive against organized crime has not gotten much
support from many sectors of Mexican society. Having criticized Mr.
Calderon for not listening to other voices in the drugs war, many
opposition lawmakers didn't bother to turn up this week's conferences,
saying they were busy with other matters.

Meanwhile, a leading association of mayors said it would block an
initiative to scrap municipal police forces-widely seen as
corrupt-with stronger state forces. The mayors said they didn't want
federal interference in local matters.