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FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MEXICO 002517 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/11/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM MX
SUBJECT: SAN SALVADOR ATENCO RIOTERS DRAW BRUTAL POLICE 
RESPONSE 
 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL MINISTER-COUNSELOR LESLIE A. BASSETT, REASONS: 
 1.4(B/D). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary.  A May 3-4 riot in San Salvador Atenco was 
the result of long-simmering local political rivalries.  We 
see no direct relation to the coming presidential election, 
and the group that precipitated the violence appears to have 
no reach beyond its community.  Nevertheless, the GOM 
decision to send in the riot police may have been influenced 
by a perceived need to look tough in the run-up to the 
elections.  The result -- which looked very much like a 
police riot -- is an embarrassment for the GOM.  End summary. 
 
Local Tensions Boil Over 
------------------------ 
 
¶2. (U) San Salvador Atenco is a gritty neighborhood located 
in Mexico State about 30 miles east of Mexico City.  It has a 
history of public disorder and violence.  On May 3, state 
police acting at the request of the mayor attempted to evict 
flower sellers illegally installed in the town square.  A 
local group, the Front of Communities United in Defense of 
the Land (Frente de los Pueblos Unidos en Defensa de la 
Tierra or FPDT) rallied to the defense of the vendors and 
blocked a road.  State police attempted to clear the 
thoroughfare and quickly found themselves in a battle.  They 
sought reinforcement by the Federal Preventative Police 
(PFP).  There were numerous injuries on both sides, one death 
(a 14 year old -- it is unclear who killed him), a dozen 
policemen taken hostage and beaten, and some 100 protesters 
arrested.  At dawn on May 4, the state police, reinforced by 
a larger number of PFP, moved in again.  Using tear gas and 
swinging truncheons, they engaged demonstrators wielding 
machetes and Molotov cocktails.  The police hostages were 
freed and another 100 demonstrators arrested, including FPDT 
leader Ignacio del Valle.  Del Valle faces kidnapping charges 
stemming from this incident as a well as an incident in 
February when he allegedly took a state official hostage in 
an argument over criminal charges against one of del Valle's 
supporters. 
 
¶3. (U) There were numerous claims of police brutality, 
including the sacking of homes in the area, beating of 
detainees, and sexual assaults on female prisoners (including 
a Chilean and a Spaniard, both of whom were expelled from the 
country along with some other foreigners picked up during the 
riot -- no Americans were involved).  Faced with news footage 
of the chaos, the GOM has promised action against the police 
concerned but has also pointed to the violence by the 
demonstrators.  The National Human Rights Commission has 
promised an investigation.  All but about 28 of the 200 
detainees have been released. 
 
Politicians Swoop In 
------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) With the elections less than two months away, many 
Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) members are blaming 
the government for brutality even as the party's presidential 
candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, is distancing himself 
from the protesters.  Even a fancied association would 
reinforce National Action Party (PAN) candidate Felipe 
Calderon's message that a vote for Lopez Obrador is a vote 
for the wild-eyed left.  Struggling Institutional 
Revolutionary Party (PRI) presidential candidate Roberto 
Madrazo, who claims to be the candidate of law and order, 
said the government should crack down on such protests, 
warning San Salvador Atenco could be a warning of more 
disorder to come.  Even Subcomandante Marcos, in Mexico City 
on his long-running but little-noticed public tour of Mexico, 
rushed in, proclaiming he would stay until the jailed 
demonstrators were freed. 
 
Revulsion 
--------- 
 
¶5. (U) The episode follows an unrelated April 20 incident in 
Michoacan where police evicting striking miners from a steel 
mill killed two of the miners.  Public opinion on San 
Salvador Atenco seems about evenly divided between those 
condemning the machete-wielding demonstrators and those 
appalled by the police brutality.  Many seem to agree that, 
while the demonstrators were clearly spoiling for a fight, 
the authorities bungled the incident.  Commenting on the 
inept police tactics, one columnist said it was just as well 
Mexico did not have police reality shows, since they would 
have to run as comedies. 
 
Some Official Insights 
---------------------- 
 
 
MEXICO 00002517  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶6. (C) A senior official in the Secretariat of Public 
Security (SSP) with experience in Mexican intelligence gave 
us a behind the scenes version of events.  He said the town 
was a hotbed of political factions.  The mayor is PRD but is 
at odds with various party factions.  Many groups are unhappy 
because the PRI solidly controls state-level offices.  In 
short, there is lots of infighting and many who feel they 
have no political space.  The battle over the flower vendors 
has been going on for months.  It has nothing to do with 
flowers and everything to do with political payback.  The 
vendors are paying the price for not supporting the mayor. 
Some of the vendors sought support from the FPDT, and the 
mayor foolishly allowed the FPDT a seat at the table.  When 
negotiations broke down, the state, still smarting over the 
FPDT's previous aggressions against a state official, agreed 
to send in the police.  When things got out of hand, the 
state called for the PFP (part of SSP).  There were not 
enough PFP available on May 3 to intervene decisively (many 
were still deployed in Michoacan in the wake of the miners' 
strike).  When reinforcements assembled May 4, the on-scene 
PFP was altogether too eager to rush in.  SSP was reluctant, 
fearing, correctly as it turned out, that things would get 
out of control.  Interestingly, the GOM was finally swayed by 
the fear that if they did not act it would send the wrong 
message to anyone planning post-election disturbances and 
would demoralize their riot police. 
 
¶7. (C) Our contact admitted the police committed excesses (it 
would be hard to deny given the news footage), but 
predictably blamed most of the problems on the state police. 
He denied that the FPDT represented anything larger than 
itself, and he did not see in this episode any harbinger of 
wider unrest.  He claimed the FPDT was long-since discredited 
and had even fallen out with other left-wing groups.  He said 
it had been dis-invited from marches in Mexico City because 
of its ugly reputation and propensity for machete-waving.  He 
saw Marcos's involvement as opportunistic and indicated the 
GOM was not going to be baited into a confrontation that 
would only satisfy Marcos's lust for publicity. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8. (C) Despite Madrazo's dire and self-serving warnings, and 
while the approaching elections are no doubt heightening 
emotions, we can see no clear connection between this event 
and the elections other than the GOM's belief that it had to 
show firmness in the run-up to July 2.  Ironically, because 
of the embarrassment the police have caused the government, 
it may become harder to employ them in the future.  The FPDT 
has been around for years and was involved in another 
humiliating episode early in the Fox Administration when 
plans for a new Mexico City airport at San Salvador Atenco 
were thwarted by machete-wielding protesters led by the FPDT. 
 On that occasion Fox backed down, and he was roundly 
criticized for doing so. 
 
 
Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity 
 
GARZA