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By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
General de Brigada Sergio Alberto Martinez Castuera has been appointed the newest commander of the Mexican 10th Military Zone, according to Mexican news reports.
The 10th Military Zone encompasses most of Durango state all the way to the sierras, and has been involved in a number of small counternarcotics operations earlier in the spring.
General Martinez Castuera gained his second star in November, 2010, and he served a commandant of the Mexican Army's prestigious military academy, Heroica Colegio Militar between 2011 and 2012.
During that time, charges had surfaced of harassment of cadets, evidenced by an open letter by a woman identified as Pacheco Gabriela Matias. It is unclear in the letter if the harassment was to females only, or to all cadets, but the charges included theft and abuse. No details of any charges were listed in the letter, which had been published in a number of Mexican newspapers and magazines.
Whatever became of the charges is also unclear in subsequent news reports, but it doesn't seem to have affected the general.
General Martinez Castuera also previously served as commander of the 11th Military Zone in Zacatecas.
What is most interesting about General Martinez Castuera's appointment is that he had served as commander of Mexico's Cuerpo Fuerzas Especiales or Corp of Special Forces in 2008 and 2009, and implemented the initial training program for Mexican Fuerzas Especiales in counternarcotics operations.
How this comports to his appointment to the 10th Military Zone is that last spring the Secretaria de Defensa Nacional (SEDENA) General Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda told local news reporters in Durango that finding Joaquin Loera Guzman, AKA El Chapo, the leader of Mexico's largest drug cartel, is a "priority", as he put it.
It has long been rumored that Loera maintains a residence somewhere in the sierras of Durango.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com. His latest work of non-fiction, The Wounded Eagle: Volume 2 went on sale September 1st at Amazon.com and Smashwords.com. 
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