Mexico Appoints New Interior Minister After Blake Mora Death

Mexico's new Interior Minister Alejandro Poire, left, speaks during his swearing-in ceremony, as Mexico's President Felipe Calderon looks at him in Mexico City, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011. Poire, chief of Mexico's intelligence agency, replaces Francisco Blake Mora, who died in a Nov. 11 helicopter crash on the outskirts of Mexico City. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini) (AP2011)

Mexican President Felipe Calderón named the country's chief intelligence man Thursday to be the new interior secretary, the Mexico's top domestic security post.

Calderón picked Harvard-educated Alejandro Poiré, the president's former security spokesman and current head of the national security agency, to replace Francisco Blake Mora, who died in a Nov. 11 helicopter crash on the outskirts of Mexico City.

Calderón said he chose Poiré because of his deep knowledge of security issues and politics.

Poiré will oversee the offensive against drug cartels as well as Mexico's national elections July 1. Calderón said Poiré's job will be to ensure the elections are held "in a climate of peace, respect and complete legality."

The interior secretary in Mexico also acts as the president's chief negotiator with Congress and the political parties. Calderón said he will be pushing reforms for Mexico's legal framework and security laws, including proposals to formalize the role of the Mexican military in law enforcement tasks.

Poiré pledged to listen to all opinions.

"I will strive to serve this administration and my country by working through dialogue, always recognizing and valuing different opinions, and seeking in this way to make progress on agreements and reforms, to contribute to harmony in our country," Poiré said upon being sworn in during a televised ceremony.

Poiré was at the national security agency for only about two months. Before that, he served for a little over a year as the administration's chief spokesman on the offensive against drug cartels, a battle that has cost between 35,000 and 40,000 lives since Calderón took office in late 2006.

Ironically, the drug war's toll is not clear in part because Poiré had refused to release an official count of the dead since last January — when he released with much fanfare a report listing 34,600 deaths through late 2010. Many other groups, including Mexican news media, now place the figure at well over 40,000.

Poiré, who holds a doctorate in political science from Harvard, has held academic posts and worked at the country's Federal Electoral Institute from 2003 to 2005.

Based on reporting by the Associated Press.