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DE RUEHME #3111/01 1651557
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141557Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7490
INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MEXICO 003111 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR WHA/MEX, INR, INL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON MX
SUBJECT: NEW SLATE OF INTERPARLIAMENTARY GROUP PARTICIPANTS 
DISCUSS COMPETITIVENESS, MIGRATION, AND SECURITY 
 
 
THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  PLEASE HANDLE 
ACCORDINGLY. 
 
¶1.  (SBU)   Summary.  Focusing this year on economic 
competitiveness, immigration and security/law enforcement, 
legislators at the 46th annual Interparliamentary Groups 
(IPG) agreed their countries shared common stakes in economic 
development and improved security.  Coming as it did two days 
after the Senate's comprehensive immigration reform bill had 
stalled, however, discussion of migration issues was spirited 
and contentious.  A wide range of opinions divided U.S. 
legislators from each other as well as from their Mexican 
counterparts. Finally, talk of whether and how the two 
countries might better work together in combating 
narcotics-trafficking and violence touched off a brief media 
flurry in Mexico that SRE sought to diffuse with a press 
release clarifying the nature of U.S. - Mexican discussions 
on counter-narcotics cooperation. End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)   Overall the tone of the conference was cordial. 
Rapport established in a variety of informal settings was 
evident throughout the conference proceedings.  Private 
conversations with several Mexican legislators revealed some 
frustration that Mexico's attendance was disproportionate to 
that of the U.S.   Opening the working sessions, the head of 
the Senate's North America Committee Ricardo Garcia Cervantes 
lamented the absence of his U.S. Senate counterparts.  The 
Mexican delegation, however, graciously accepted the regrets 
expressed on behalf of the absent U.S. senators by U.S. 
delegation head Ed Pastor (D Texas). 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
A Task Force to Promote Competitiveness along Border 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU)   Senator Eloy Cantu (PRI) launched the discussion 
of economic competitiveness with a proposal that an IPG Task 
Force be established to help promote development along the 
shared border.  Citing what he said were similar economic 
zones around the world, and noting the impact already robust 
cross border trade was having in northern Mexico and along 
the southwest U.S. border, he argued that the border area was 
a zone of potential rich prosperity that the IPG should 
foster.   A congressional task force, he suggested, meeting 
periodically throughout the year could identify and recommend 
legislation and programs in both countries to facilitate 
regional economic alliances and activities. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  The idea met with widespread approval among both 
U.S. and Mexican legislators and generated several offers to 
participate.   Representative Ciro Rodriguez (D-Texas) was 
first to second the suggestion, although he noted that the 
NADBank was already involved in infrastructure development 
and that its efforts to promote economic growth along the 
border could be usefully expanded with an infusion of greater 
resources.   Other U.S. legislators, while similarly 
encouraging, touched on the inter-play between security, 
migration and economic development and stressed the 
importance of also promoting development in Southern Mexico. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Garcia Cervantes and Pastor agreed that, absent 
specific objections from IPG members, the suggestion would be 
considered adopted; work on the details would begin in coming 
months. 
 
-------------------------- 
Migration a Divisive Issue 
-------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  By agreement between the two delegations, the U.S. 
side presented a state-of-play report on the comprehensive 
immigration reform bill.  Despite the Senate's failure to end 
debate on the bill and move it forward for a vote, Silvestre 
Reyes (D-Texas) offered that the reform initiative was still 
viable.  Senator Reid will likely bring up another vote to 
move the legislation forward within two weeks, he said.  A 
trade-off might be allowing for discussion of additional 
amendments being sought by Republican lawmakers.  Reyes 
promised that the House would bring up a bill if the Senate 
passed its own version of the legislation.   Linda Sanchez 
added that the House effort would be a compromise bill 
similar to what the Senate might pass.  It made no sense to 
offer up a more "progressive" piece of legislation that stood 
little chance of passage.  Similarly, she said, the House 
would only bring its reform package forward if the Senate 
bill passed. 
 
¶7.  (SBU)   Interventions by Mexican legislators tended to 
focus on variations of the following points: 
 
MEXICO 00003111  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
-- Mexican migrants in the U.S. contribute to both the U.S. 
and Mexican economies. 
 
-- Mexico understands that it is the U.S.'s sovereign right 
to decide how to deal with its illegal immigrants. 
 
-- Nevertheless, Mexicans consider illegal migration to the 
U.S. from a human rights perspective: anti-immigrant 
sentiments and efforts to undermine the rights of migrants in 
recent years in the U.S. are counterproductive. 
 
-- Physical barriers will not stem the flow of migrants to 
the U.S. as long as the economies of both countries remain 
asymmetric; the U.S., with the dominant economy, needs to 
carry more weight and somehow help Mexico create the jobs 
needed to keep migrants at home. 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  The discussion also occasioned disagreement among 
U.S. legislators.  Democratic panel members tended to be more 
optimistic about the prospects for near-term immigration 
reform than their Republican counterparts.  Linda Sanchez 
suggested there may be other ways to move it forward if the 
current Senate effort fails, by crafting separate legislation 
that addresses the constituent elements of the package. 
Republican interlocutors, while also generally supportive of 
a reform effort, focused their comments on the failings of 
the 1986 reform law and the utility of border security 
measures such as fencing.  Some called for more emphasis on 
employer sanctions in the United States to stem illegal 
migration (a measure also endorsed by some Democrats at the 
table).  When Sanchez suggested that most Americans and their 
legislators believe the U.S. needs to regularize the status 
of illegal migrants in the U.S., Representative Weller 
disagreed, saying the so-called "path to citizenship" was the 
element in the cu 
rrent legislation that was most divisive.  Remove it, he 
said, and the current bill would pass. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
Off-hand Comment on Security Cooperation Leads to Media 
Flurry in Mexico 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  Near the end of the day, after a somewhat 
roundabout discussion of law enforcement priorities in 
Mexico, legislators touched briefly on the modalities of 
expanding counter-narcotics cooperation.  Representative 
Pastor asked his Mexican counterparts what the U.S. could 
specifically do to help.  The U.S. Congress needed a specific 
request to which it could respond, he said.   At that point, 
Representative Reyes noted that the Calderon administration 
had expressed interest in expanded U.S. support and that 
discussions had taken place between the two governments.  He 
provided no details regarding the nature of the request and 
made no reference to a Plan Colombia in Mexico. 
 
¶10. (SBU)  The only reference to Plan Colombia came from 
Representative Mike McCaul (R-Texas) who recognized that it 
was "not applicable" in Mexico when he pledged greater U.S. 
cooperation to Mexico's counter-narcotics effort.   After 
Mexican delegation head Garcia Cervantes said the Mexican 
legislature would have to defer to the executive branch on 
assistance requests, both sides moved on and ended the 
discussion amiably. 
 
¶11.  (SBU)  According to media accounts, however, two PRD 
legislators complained privately to reporters that Reyes and 
other U.S. representatives had surprised them by outlining 
levels of ongoing U.S. assistance to Mexico and well as plans 
for future assistance.  "From what Reyes said, I have the 
impression that cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico is 
very advanced and that the government hasn't told us 
anything(They are applying the same kind of technical and 
intelligence assistance to the Mexican government that they 
are using against Colombian insurgents,"  said the PRD's 
Raymundo Cardenas. 
 
¶12.  (SBU)  Quick off the mark in response were both Mexico's 
Ambassador Sarukhan (who had attended the IPG) and Mexico's 
Foreign Relations Secretariat.  Sarukhan gathered reporters 
and confirmed that the two governments are talking about how 
the U.S. can do more to assist Mexico, but denied Mexico was 
seeking its own version of Plan Colombia.  "There could not 
be any such plan because realities are very different in 
Mexico," he told reporters.  For its part, SRE issued a 
statement later in the evening (emailed to WHA) outlining 
current cooperation and confirming that the GOM had expanded 
consultations with the U.S. 
 
MEXICO 00003111  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶13.  (SBU)  Comment:  It is unfortunate that an off-hand 
comment has led to grand-standing among Mexican legislators. 
The issue of whether a Plan Colombia for Mexico was being 
fashioned received front-page treatment in Sunday papers and 
continues to generate calls by opposition legislators for the 
GOM to clarify the nature of U.S.-Mexican discussions on 
assistance.   The public hoopla does not reflect the 
character of the discussions that took place, however.   An 
almost entirely new slate of Mexican legislators comprised 
the Mexican delegations (with two holdovers).  Members of the 
group had the opportunity to forge ties with their U.S. 
counterparts, vent on the issue of migration and, more 
importantly, get their first up-close-and-personal look at 
how reasonable men and women in the U.S. can disagree over an 
issue of fundamental importance to the bilateral 
relationship.  End Comment. 
 
 
Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity and the North American 
Partnership Blog at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap / 
GARZA