The Mexican government hailed Illinois Governor George...

The Mexican government hailed Illinois Governor George Ryan's decision to commute the death sentences of 167 convicts, three of them Mexicans. The Foreign Relations Secretariat said in a statement that the Mexicans in question were Juan Caballero, Gabriel Solache and Mario Flores. The Secretariat added that documentation on the cases of the three Mexicans in Illinois reflected "procedural violations and extreme sentences based on their ethnic origins." As of September (2002), the statement said, 54 Mexicans were on death row in the United States, while 142 others were facing charges that could carry the death penalty.