Young Mexican police chief loses job, may seek US asylum

Mar 7, 2011, 19:32 GMT

Mexico City - A young, female northern Mexican police chief lost her job Monday amid reports that she planned to request asylum in the United States.

The mayor of the town of Praxedis G Guerrero said Marisol Valles Garcia, 20, had failed to report for work on Monday.

Authorities in the town near the troubled city of Ciudad Juarez, confirmed last week that Valles Garcia, once acclaimed as 'Mexico's bravest woman,' had requested a leave of a few days.

Her young son had respiratory problems and she wanted him to receive treatment in the nearby United States, but was expected back on the job Monday, they said last week.

However, sources close to Valles Garcia had told the Ciudad Juarez daily El Diario that she decided to leave Mexico after receiving death threats. The criminology student took the job four months ago to much media fanfare and had nine police officers under her command.

Newspaper reports said she planned to seek asylum in the United States along with her family.

Praxedis G Guerrero is in the state of Chihuahua. Ciudad Juarez, just a few kilometres away, is regarded as Mexico's most violent city, with around 3,100 killings related to organized crime last year alone.

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