VZCZCXRO5677
RR RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHME #0787/01 0442240
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 132240Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8911
INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RUEAHLA/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHDC
RULSDMK/DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHDC
RUEANHA/FAA NATIONAL HQ WASHDC
RHMFISS/TSA HQ WASHINGTON DC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MEXICO 000787 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB/TRA/OTP BIRGITTA MATTINGLEY 
WHA/MEX, AND WHA/EPSC 
IO/T FOR L TOBEY 
TSA FOR SUSAN HASMAN AND VICKI REEDER 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/13/2016 
TAGS: ECON EAIR MX CMGT PINS PTER
SUBJECT: AVIATION COOPERATION CONTINUES, ICAO DEMARCHE 
DELIVERED 
 
REF: A. 06 STATE 13518 
     ¶B. 05 MEXICO 5213 
     ¶C. 05 MEXICO 6052 
     ¶D. 04 MEXICO 7837 
     ¶E. 05 MEXICO 4419 
 
Classified By: MINISTER COUNSELOR FOR ECONOMIC AFFAIRS JAMES T. HEG 
FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Embassy and TSA officials met February 7 
with the Director General for Mexican Civil Aviation (DGAC) 
and other high level DGAC officials to discuss numerous 
aviation related matters including Bill Voss' candidacy for 
Secretary General of the International Civil Aviation 
 
SIPDIS 
Organization (ICAO), disaster/emergency preparedness, a 
MANPADS assessment, and aviation security related training. 
The DGAC was enthusiastic and open to working with the U.S. 
on these key priorities but as usual, they could not make any 
promises without the permission of other Mexican agencies. 
End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) ECON Mincouns, Econoff, and TSA Rep for Mexico met 
February 7 with Director General of Mexican Civil Aviation 
(DGAC) Gilberto Lopez Meyer, DGAC Director of Security Major 
Aaron Villar, and Subdirector of Airports and Service Luis 
Bolado to deliver the ICAO leadership demarche and to discuss 
aviation disaster preparedness, a MANPADS assessment, 
explosives (IED specifically) training, and an upcoming 
meeting with TSA. 
 
ICAO DEMARCHE 
 
¶3. (SBU) Econ Mincouns delivered the ICAO demarche (ref A). 
He told the DGAC that we are strongly considering supporting 
Roberto Kobeh for President and would like their support for 
Bill Voss as Secretary General.  Lopez Meyer said he does not 
know what the official position of Mexico will be, but he 
spoke highly of Kobeh and said that he has a lot of respect 
for Voss and believes he is well-qualified.  He noted that 
Voss and Kobeh would probably work well together and said 
ICAO needs good leadership and requires change.  Lopez Meyer 
acknowledged that the Foreign Ministry (SRE) plays an 
important role in the decision, but suggested that Secretary 
Mineta call Secretary Cerisola to discuss the matter. 
(Embassy is sending a diplomatic note on Voss to SRE). 
 
DISASTER/EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS 
 
¶4. (SBU) Econ Mincouns thanked the DGAC for their assistance 
during Hurricane Wilma and asked if the DGAC would support or 
host a conference for government and industry on 
aviation-related aspects of disaster preparedness.  Econ 
Mincouns and Econoff explained the purpose of the conference 
would be to improve communication and coordination during 
natural disaster related emergency evacuations in tourist 
filled areas on both the west and east coasts of Mexico. 
Lopez Meyer noted that there are many different processes 
intertwined with the actual air evacuation of tourists and/or 
citizens and they are merely in charge of a small part of it. 
 He emphasized that DGAC relies heavily on Mexico's Civil 
Defense (Proteccion Civil) and military counterparts to 
ensure those processes are completed beforehand.  However, he 
said if he had more details on what could be discussed and 
come out of such a conference, he would be open to holding 
it.  He had no knowledge of any upcoming regional disaster 
preparedness meeting in Mexico. 
 
¶5. (C) Lopez Meyer emphasized that it is vital to get rid of 
the diplomatic note requirement in cases of aviation 
emergencies (ref B).  He believes that if a natural disaster 
occurs, an aviation accident or large security incident, he 
has to be able to quickly call on his U.S. colleagues and 
depend on them not being delayed.  He believes the SRE will 
not make it easy for this to happen and that we must 
establish some emergency bi-lateral protocol in writing. 
Econ Mincouns and Econoff told Lopez Meyer that more than a 
year ago the SRE stated that they only needed notification by 
e-mail or fax in emergency/immediate situations but they've 
continued to require a diplomatic note. 
 
MANPADS ASSESSMENT 
 
¶6. (C) In a previous meeting with TSA, Lopez Meyer mentioned 
 
MEXICO 00000787  002 OF 002 
 
 
that he wanted all GOM Agencies to sign a document signaling 
their agreement and participation in a joint MANPADS 
assessment (Almost a year and a half ago, the GOM canceled a 
joint MANPADS assessment for Mexico City two days before the 
start date due to "political" sensitivities - ref D and E). 
Lopez Meyer admitted that he had not collected signatures yet 
but told his assistant to immediately schedule a meeting with 
other GOM agencies on the subject.  He believes that an 
assessment in Cancun will not be possible due to the 
rebuilding efforts following Hurricane Wilma.  He also noted 
that Mexico City may still be too politically sensitive at 
this time but mentioned the possibility of joint assessments 
at Tijuana and San Diego or even better at Ciudad Juarez and 
El Paso.  Lopez Meyer seemed interested in the possibility of 
visiting a military training center near El Paso that 
specializes in MANPADS defense.  He said the assessment would 
probably be easier to sell to other GOM agencies if the 
Canadians also participated (TSA had offered this at a 
previous meeting).  He said that he wants to conduct an 
assessment before the July elections but said it may be 
politically easier to wait until after the elections. 
 
IED TRAINING 
 
¶7. (C) The TSA Rep asked Lopez Meyer for the official request 
for IED (Improvised Explosive Device) training for personnel 
who are in charge of responding to credible threats of 
explosives found in baggage at airport checkpoints.  Lopez 
Meyer signed the DGAC's request and gave it to the TSA Rep. 
Currently, in many Mexican airports, most security 
authorities with the exception of military have no idea how 
to respond to an IED threat.  ATF and TSA jointly decided to 
offer the GOM training in Mexico, hopefully with the use of 
NAS funds.  The Mexican Federal Preventive Police (PFP) and 
other federal law enforcement entities will be the recipient 
of the training. 
 
UPCOMING TSA VISIT 
 
¶8. (U) TSA Rep reminded Lopez Meyer that a TSA delegation 
from Washington would be arriving the week of February 21 to 
work on SPP related items and on Hold Baggage Screening. 
Lopez Meyer scheduled his meeting with them for February 23 
at 10 a.m.  Lopez Meyer also noted to Econ Mincouns that he 
hoped that current bilateral sensitivities regarding border 
incidents and the proposed immigration legislation would not 
get in the way of aviation cooperation.  He noted that he 
will continue working with all of our agencies. 
 
COMMENT 
 
¶9. (SBU) Lopez Meyer clearly does not want the DGAC to get 
caught in the political crossfire.  He remains sensitive to 
our concerns but admits that he lacks influence over the SRE 
on both the ICAO vote and on some security matters.  He is 
open to the idea of sponsoring a meeting between public and 
private aviation officials on disaster preparedness but wants 
to ensure that there is a clear purpose to the meeting and 
wants to ensure that it doesn't encroach on the 
responsibilities of Civil Protection or other Mexican 
authorities. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity 
 
KELLY