VZCZCXRO0827
PP RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHM RUEHHO RUEHJO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHPOD
RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHME #1925/01 1091510
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 191510Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6501
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 2286
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RUEHXI/LABOR COLLECTIVE
RUEHQU/AMCONSUL QUEBEC 0013
RUEHON/AMCONSUL TORONTO 0024
RUEHVC/AMCONSUL VANCOUVER 0033

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 MEXICO 001925 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL/AWH AND ILCSR, WHA/MEX AND PPC, USDOL FOR ILAB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ECON PHUM PGOV PINR MX
SUBJECT: MEXICAN JUDICIAL AND EXECUTIVE AUTHORITIES 
REINSTATE DEPOSED LEADER OF NATIONAL MINERS, UNION 
 
REF: (A) 06 MEXICO 6655 (B) 06 MEXICO 6750 (C) MEXICO 
 
     0863 
 
MEXICO 00001925  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: In a series of ongoing events, Mexican 
authorities temporarily reinstated Napoleon Gomez Urrutia as 
the leader of the National Miners Union, SNTMMSRM.  This 
reinstatement was followed by a national SNTMMSRM convention 
on April 17, 2007, in which Gomez was then definitively 
reaffirmed as the leader of the Miners, union.  For now, the 
authorities have left open the questions of the validity of 
the outstanding embezzlement charges against Gomez for 
allegedly mishandling 55 million dollars in union pension 
funds; or who to hold accountable for the apparently 
fraudulent documents that formed the basis for Gomez, 2006 
removal from office.  The consequences of the decision to 
reinstate Gomez potentially have consequences for both the US 
and Mexico. For the US, Gomez,s deposition is the subject of 
a submission filed by United Steel Workers under the terms of 
the NAFTA side agreement on labor.  For Mexico, the main 
opposition political party believes the country,s former 
President and various members of his administration should 
face criminal fraud charges.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Background 
---------- 
 
¶2. A long running dispute between two leaders within 
Mexico,s National Union of Miners and Metalworkers, 
SNTMMSRM, took a sharply different turn in February 2006 when 
the administration of then President Vicente Fox became 
involved.  The leaders in question are Napoleon Gomez 
Urrutia; the then officially recognized head of the Miners 
Union, and a continual rival, Elias Morales Hernandez, a 
long-time union official.  The critical phase of the struggle 
between these two men appears to have begun in 2002 when both 
ran to become SNTMMSRM Secretary General, the union,s top 
elected executive position.  In this fight for union 
leadership Gomez Urrutia,s main claim to fame was that he 
was the son of the previous Secretary General, Napoleon Gomez 
Sada.  Morales, principal argument as to why he should be 
Secretary General was that he had served for years as Gomez 
 
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Sada,s main assistant during much of the former leader,s 
time as head of the union.  Ultimately Gomez won and became 
the Secretary General of the SNTMMSRM. 
 
¶3.  After having served for four years as the recognized head 
of the Miners, union, Gomez was ousted from his position as 
Secretary General by Morales and his supporters on the 
 
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union,s internal affairs unit, the Council on Vigilance and 
Justice (CVJ), with the concurrence of the Fox 
administration,s Labor Secretariat (STPS).  The basis for 
Gomez, removal was an allegation that he embezzled USD 55 
million in union pension funds.  The allegation was supported 
by a document that reportedly contained the signatures of the 
five members of the CVJ. At the time at least two members of 
the CVJ claimed that their signatures had been forged but no 
actions where taken to verify these claims.  Instead, the Fox 
administration Labor Secretariat withdrew its recognition of 
Gomez as the head of the SNTMMSRN, supported various charges 
against him in both state and federal courts and declared 
Morales the new Secretary General of the miners, union.  In 
response to this GOM action, Gomez fled to Canada where has 
continually proclaimed his innocence.  However, Gomez has 
never provided a convincing accounting of what happened to 
the USD 55 million he allegedly mishandled and which was last 
seen in one of the Mexican branches of a Canadian bank. This 
entire affair took another bizarre turn in February 2007 when 
the Governor of the northern Mexican state of Coahuila 
accused now former President Fox of pressuring him in 2006 to 
falsely accuse Gomez in a mine explosion which killed 65 
people as further proof as why he was stripped of his union 
leadership position. 
 
¶4. Gomez, removal as the leader of the miners, union 
generated a considerable amount of interest and controversy 
in labor circles both within Mexico and internationally. 
Most, although certainly not all, of the rank and file of the 
Miners, union continued to support Gomez. Many of Mexico,s 
more established unions came out in support of Gomez. On the 
other hand, the CT (Congress of Labor), perhaps Mexico,s 
largest federation of labor unions, is divided over whether 
Gomez should be restored to his leadership position despite 
the fact that the SNTMMSRN is a member of this coalition. 
 
MEXICO 00001925  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
Internationally, the United Steelworkers unions (USW) in both 
the US and Canada strongly support Gomez.  The USW went so 
far as to file a public submission on SNTMMSRN's behalf under 
the terms of the North American Agreement on Labor 
Cooperation (NAALC), a side agreement to NAFTA.  Moreover, 
Gomez received considerable support from the International 
Metalworkers Federation. 
 
A New Administration Views The Case Differently 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶5.  The question of who was the real leader of the miners, 
union was one of the two major unresolved labor issues that 
the outgoing Fox administration passed to its successor, the 
government of now President Felipe Calderon in December 2006. 
 Once in office the Calderon government, particularly the 
Secretary of Labor, Javier Lozano, moved quickly to solve the 
 
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problem of miners, union leadership dispute.  According to 
what a senior STSP official diplomatically told post,s Labor 
Counselor, the Calderon government believed that the problems 
in the miners union were not handled as well as they could 
have been by the previous administration. (Post notes that 
both the former and the current administrations belong to 
Mexico,s National Action Party (PAN).) The official implied 
that the Fox administration needlessly took sides in an 
internal union matter and then essentially cut off 
communication with one side of the dispute.  At the time of 
the conversation with Labor Counselor in January 2007, the 
official stated that the new administration had already 
reestablished full communication with both sides and the 
Labor Secretary Lozano,s plan was to eventually call for a 
new national convention that would? properly determine the 
leadership of the miners, union. 
 
Judicial and Executive Authorities Begin To Move 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶6.  In late February media reports began to surface 
indicating that the Calderon government had decided to 
investigate the 2006 claims made by members of the CVJ that 
signatures on the document accusing Gomez of embezzlement had 
been forged.  Once the investigation began it was not long 
before unofficially released results supported the claims of 
forged signatures.  By mid-March GOM investigators officially 
declared that the signatures had been forged.  The results of 
this investigation were immediately turned over to the PGR, 
the Mexican equivalent of the US Attorney General,s Office, 
and to the appropriate judicial authorities for labor 
matters.  The PGR began its own investigation to prepare a 
case to bring criminal fraud charges, and the judicial 
authorities began deliberation on an appeal by Gomez, 
lawyers to overturn the previous administration,s decision 
to depose him from his union leadership position and to fully 
reinstate him as the SNTMMSRN Secretary General. 
 
¶7.  On April 13 2007, following several weeks of 
deliberation, the Fourth Court of the Mexico City First Labor 
Circuit ruled that Napoleon Gomez Urrutia had been improperly 
removed from his union position and that he should be 
reinstated as SNTMMSRN no later than three work days 
following the court decision.  The court decision very 
clearly did not rule that Gomez was the undisputed leader of 
the miners, union but only that there was no basis for 
removing him from the position the GOM had previously 
officially recognized in 2002.  Moreover, since this was a 
labor and not a criminal court it took no position on the 
still pending embezzlement against Gomez. 
 
¶8.  Within 72 hours of the Labor Court,s ruling, on April 
16, 2007 the STSP issued a statement indicating that in 
compliance with the judicial determination it was withdrawing 
its recognition of Elias Morales as leader of the miners, 
union and reinstating Gomez as SNTMMSRN Secretary General. 
The Labor Secretariat,s statement reinstating Gomez very 
specifically indicated that the STSP decision was an 
administrative ruling that had no impact on the still pending 
embezzlement charges against Gomez, nor any bearing on 
whatever outcome the PGR might eventually make in determining 
culpability with regard to the forged signatures which 
clearly favored Elias Morales.  In separate action the Labor 
Secretariat also moved to support an immediate (i.e. on April 
 
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17, 2007) &extraordinary national convention8 of the 
SNTMMSRN to determine the legitimate Secretary General of the 
 
MEXICO 00001925  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
miners union.  According to media reports representatives of 
the USW and the International Metalworkers Federation are 
scheduled to attend the convention. 
 
Stranger Than Fiction 
--------------------- 
 
¶9.  At the same time as the events in the Labor Court and 
STSP, unusual occurrences were taking place at the PRG. 
Shortly before the Labor Court made its ruling that Gomez 
appeal the investigation into the forged signatures that 
formed the basis of his removal from union office came to a 
screeching halt when all supporting case files gathered to 
date were mysteriously stolen.  Leaders from all of Mexico,s 
major political parties expressed disbelief that such a 
robbery could occur at the offices of the GOM agency 
responsible for investigating crime.  The investigation of 
the forged signatures has been placed on hold and separate 
investigation has been launched into the theft of the missing 
case files. 
 
Main Opposition Party Outraged 
------------------------------ 
 
¶10.  The Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) has 
expressed outrage at the handling of the entire miners, 
union affair. According to the PRG the ruling by the Labor 
Court is solid evidence that the Fox administration acted 
illegally when it removed Gomez Urrutia from his union 
leadership position.  In addition, a leading PRD Senator said 
the court ruling gives further credence to the accusation 
made in February by the Governor of Coahuila when he accused 
former President Fox of pressuring him in 2006 to falsely 
accuse Gomez of culpability in a mine explosion that resulted 
in 65 deaths.  Consequently, the PRD Senator said, his party 
was filing criminal fraud charges in both federal and 
Coahuila state courts against former President Fox and his 
then Labor Secretary, Francisco Salazar. 
 
¶11. Former Labor Secretary Salazar has denied any knowing 
participation in errors resulting from the presentation of 
forged CVJ signatures.  According to Salazar, he had no way 
of knowing the signatures were forged, if that is in fact the 
case.  For his part, former President Fox has expressed no 
concern over the matter and has said that Gomez, his 
supporters and the PRD should take whatever action they 
believe is necessary. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶12.  The &extraordinary national convention8 to elect a new 
Secretary General is still on going but it has already 
 
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reaffirmed Napoleon Gomez Urrutia in his position as union 
leader.  Interestingly, Gomez is still in Canada and is not 
expected to return to Mexico for some 30 days while the other 
outstanding federal and state charges against him are 
resolved.  Most of the accusations stem from the charge that 
Gomez has not fully accounted for the missing US 55 million 
from the union pension fund.  Gomez, lawyer claims that he 
can prove that between USD 24-30 million of the so-called 
&alleged missing money8 has been distributed to union 
workers and that the rest is currently in seven frozen bank 
accounts that can be reviewed at any time. 
 
¶13.  While the miners, union leadership saga is being played 
out, other union and political actors are asking why federal 
authorities (of the previous administration) moved so quickly 
against Gomez while they were unable to even hold on to the 
evidence of criminal fraud that could implicate Mexico,s 
former president and the members of his administration.  At 
present all publicly available information indicates the 
possibility that some members of the previous administration 
may have knowingly committed fraud.  Opposition PRD 
politicians have been the most outspoken in condemning the 
lack of action against officials of the former administration 
but various media opinion leaders have expressed concern over 
what type of message will be sent about the rule of law in 
Mexico if no one is held accountable for willfully committing 
criminal fraud. 
 
¶14.  The actions of the current GOM judicial and executive 
authorities to reinstate Napoleon Gomez Urrutia should 
 
MEXICO 00001925  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
satisfy interested observers in the US and abroad that 
Mexican institutions are up to the task of taking self 
corrective actions.  Consequently, it seems unlikely that the 
USG will have to take any substantive actions in response to 
the submission filed by the USW under the terms of the NAALC 
on behalf of the SNTMMSRM. 
 
 
Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity 
GARZA