U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza is engaged to Mexican billionaire Maria Asuncion Aramburuzabala of the Grupo Modelo brewery... the makers of Corona beer.

Well, alcohol is a drug. And Corona being the fifth-biggest selling beer across the world, that would make her an "international drug trafficker," no?

This Los Angeles Times story about the engagement notes that Ambassador Garza is a drug user too:

He... has been known to break out a bottle of high-grade tequila while chatting with reporters over policy issues.

Could that explain why the reporters so often don't get the facts of their stories straight?

Aw, I'm just havin' some fun here, with the Ambassador. After all, he's marrying up, into a good brand anyway.

More interesting are the continuing reverberations from the (now fracased) State Department "travel advisory" regarding Mexico...

In Mexico, the Ambassador appears to have married into some public relations teflon, as well, as Condoleeza takes the blame. From the same LA Times story:

Before last week's heated exchange over border security, Garza had enjoyed a generally favorable image in the Mexican media. But Humberto Garza, a professor at the College of Mexico who is no relation to the ambassador, said the American envoy shouldn't be blamed for the diplomatic dust-up.

"Ambassador Garza has been impeccable and discreet," the professor said. Referring to last week's events, he said the ambassador was "only following orders" from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Meanwhile, the gymnastics are fun to watch as the two governments, Mexico and the U.S., try to smooth relations after this latest attempt at interference from Washington.

According to the State Department-produced "Washington File," officials are claiming victory from the ashes of defeat:

The United States and Mexico have reaffirmed their determination to continue cooperating in the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime.

That assertion emerged from a January 29 meeting between the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza and Mexican Foreign Secretary  Luis Derbez, according to a joint statement, which was issued the same day by the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City...

Garza clarified that the U.S. State Department's public announcement of January 26 reflected the two governments' shared  concern over recent acts of violence along their mutual border.  Garza explained that a letter he sent the same day to Mexican government officials sought to provide fuller context to the public announcement, and "to highlight the fact that  the [recent] wave of border violence is a result of the successful efforts" of Mexican President Vicente Fox's administration  in the fight against organized crime and of Mexico's ongoing commitment on this issue.

Did you catch that, kind reader? What Garza and the U.S. government claim is a "wave of border violence is a result of successful efforts" in the drug war.

In other words, the policy itself is causing the alleged violence.

And not a single major U.S. news correspondent has so far deigned to ask the officials the obvious: If the policy causes such violence as to alarm Washington and provoke such alerts, why continue with the counter-productive policy of imposing drug prohibition on Mexico?