Reports of his death are a bit premature

While being sworn in for a second term as mayor of San Pedro Garza Garcia, Mexico, Mauricio Fernandez jumped the gun a bit in announcing the death of a notorious narcotrafficker: "Black Saldana, who apparently is the one who was asking for my head, was found dead today in Mexico City," he told his cheering ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.

While being sworn in for a second term as mayor of San Pedro Garza Garcia, Mexico, Mauricio Fernandez jumped the gun a bit in announcing the death of a notorious narcotrafficker:

While being sworn in for a second term as mayor of San Pedro Garza Garcia, Mexico, Mauricio Fernandez jumped the gun a bit in announcing the death of a notorious narcotrafficker:

"Black Saldana, who apparently is the one who was asking for my head, was found dead today in Mexico City," he told his cheering supporters Saturday in San Pedro Garza Garcia, near Monterrey.

The problem was that the barefoot, blindfolded corpse of "Black Saldana" – whose real first name is Hector – wasn’t found for another 3 1/2 hours, according to Mexico City prosecutors. And he wouldn’t be identified for two days.

When asked about his remarkable foresight, the mayor first responded, "Sometimes there are coincidences in life; it’s better to look at it this way." 

Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

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