UPDATE 1-Mexico's Calderon fires unpopular interior minister

MEXICO CITY, July 14 (Reuters) - Mexico's President Felipe Calderon on Wednesday fired his interior minister who angered political allies and upset Mexicans for downplaying the deaths of tens of thousands of people in the nation's drug war.

Calderon said on Wednesday he will replace Fernando Gomez Mont with Jose Francisco Blake, Calderon's fourth interior minister since he took office in December 2006.

Blake until Wednesday was a senior official in the government of Baja California state, which borders California.

The switch of the No. 2 in the government was not expected to change the government's military-backed drug war but appeared aimed at winning support for labor and security reforms.

Calderon also said Economy Minister Gerardo Ruiz was leaving his post and would be replaced by Bruno Ferrari, who had headed the government agency that promotes Mexico as an investment destination. Ruiz will now become one of the president's senior advisors, Calderon said. (Reporting by Tim Gaynor and Miguel Angel Gutierrez; Editing by Will Dunham)