Mexican authorities deny reports that border state's female police chief fled
Marisol Valles Garcia made headlines last year when she became police chief of one of Mexico's most violent municipalities.
March 4th, 2011
04:36 PM ET

Mexican authorities deny reports that border state's female police chief fled

[Updated at 4:03 p.m. ET] A spokesman for the attorney general of Chihuahua State denied reports Friday that Marisol Valles Garcia - the 20-year-old woman who made headlines when she became the police chief of Praxedis, Mexico - has left the country for the United States.

Spokesman Arturo Sandoval was referring to comments in El Diario newspaper attributed to Jorge Gonzalez Nicolas, the attorney general for the northern district of Chihuahua.

"He did not give a press conference," Sandoval told CNN. "We negate reports that Nicolas said she fled to the United States."

[Posted at 2:51 p.m. ET] Marisol Valles Garcia, the 20-year-old woman who made headlines when she became the sheriff of Praxedis, Mexico, has left the country for the United States, the attorney general of Chihuahua State told reporters Friday.

Valles Garcia, a criminology student, was the only person who accepted the job of police chief in the city whose police officers had been abducted and killed.

She is reportedly seeking asylum in the United States after receiving death threats, CNN affiliate KVIA said, citing Mexican media reports.

Valles Garcia accepted the job in October. At the time, she said she was tired of everyone being afraid.

She recruited three other women to join the unarmed, 13-member force in the small municipality of 8,500 people, the government-run Notimex news agency reported. She said the force would employ non-violent tactics with the goals of winning back security in public spaces and fostering greater cooperation among neighbors so they can form watch committees.

"The weapons we have are principles and values, which are the best weapons for prevention," she told CNN en Español. "Our work will be pure prevention. We are not going to be doing anything else other than prevention."

- CNN's Arthur Brice and Nick Valencia contributed to this report.

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Filed under: Drug violence • Mexico
soundoff (161 Responses)
  1. MrsM

    I personally do not care what other country you are from or why you may want to come to the US. We need to shut down our borders to you. The US has more homeless, hungry & uncared for people than we can take care of now. We do not need anymore people. Until we can care for the people who are already here NO ONE else should cross ANY border from ANY direction for ANY reason. It all boils down to this....it is immoral & unethical to take on the responsibility for new comers when those already here are starving, homeless and dying on a daily basis. WAKE UP AMERICA!

    March 9, 2011 at 11:21 pm | Report abuse |
  2. frank

    First Things First. @MRS M... unless you are an american injun,why dont you go back to whatever country your relatives came from,(im thinkin poland) plus take your kinfolk with you. k folks,i have read lots of opinions,and i respect all but the juvenile delinquents who shouldnt have access to a computer. the young lady in question,whatever her motives are wants to live in america. wonderful. let her come. the cartel war with the mexican govt. is happening within earshot of my home. it isnt a joke. drugs should not be legal. period. to you folks that think i shouldnt be able to have guns, i cant help what you think,except i am trained to use what i have. i will grant you that citizens dont need an ak-47,ar-15 or any other type of firearm designed specifically for combat. with slight modification,they can be made fully automatic. i dont think you folks appreciate the wetbacks. they are the reason that everything you eat gets planted,cultivated harvested,americans Are Too Greedy And Lazy To Work That Hard

    March 13, 2011 at 2:29 pm | Report abuse |
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