Mexican who fought cartels killed in crash

MEXICO CITY -- The country's top cabinet secretary, Francisco Blake Mora, a key figure in Mexico's battle with drug cartels, died Friday in a helicopter crash that President Felipe Calderon said was probably an accident.

Blake Mora, 45, was the second interior minister Calderon has lost in an air crash during his administration. Despite some tendencies to suspect a hit on the top officials leading Calderon's offensive against organized crime, the crash that killed Blake Mora and seven others may have had to do with bad weather.

Blake Mora's death, while a blow to the government, is not likely to change policy or day-to-day operations.

Calderon, visibly emotional over the loss, said the Super Puma helicopter was flying in fog when it went down in a remote area southeast of Mexico City. Still, he said, all possible causes were under investigation. He said the pilot had sufficient expertise.

"Mexico has lost a great patriot . . . and I lost a dear friend," Calderon said. President Barack Obama called Calderon to offer his condolences.

Calderon appeared to try to quell any suggestions of sabotage, saying Blake Mora's helicopter "was always under guard."

Calderon appointed Blake Mora as interior secretary in July 2010. That put him in charge of coordinating domestic policies including security, human rights, migration and the president's relations with the legislature and opposition parties.

Blake Mora was traveling to a prosecutors' meeting in the neighboring state of Morelos when the helicopter went down in a mountainous area of Chalco.

As Calderon's point man in the government's war against organized crime, Blake Mora frequently traveled to the country's most dangerous places for meetings with besieged state and local security officials. He was an embodiment of the Mexican government's get-tough attitude, publicly pledging to bring the fight to the traffickers instead of backing down.

"Organized crime, in its desperation, resorts to committing atrocities that we can't and shouldn't tolerate as a government and as a society," he said.

Blake Mora's funeral was scheduled for Saturday.