US Grants Asylum to Relative of Mexican Activists

EL PASO, Texas (AP) – The lawyer for a relative of six slain Mexican human rights and political activists says his client has been granted political asylum in the United States.

Attorney Carlos Specter said Tuesday that other members of Saul Reyes Salazar’s family are still awaiting decisions from immigration authorities.

Reyes’ request was granted Jan. 19 and announced Tuesday, the anniversary of the 2011 kidnapping and slayings of a brother and sister.

Two other brothers, a sister and a sister-in-law also have been killed since drug war violence increased in 2008 in northern Chihuahua state near the border with West Texas.

The Reyes family has long been involved in political activities in the Juarez Valley and protested alleged human rights abuses by Mexican soldiers sent to battle the drug cartels.

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2/7/2012 1:25:51 PM (GMT -7:00)