VZCZCXRO4813
RR RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHME #5362/01 2821826
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 091826Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9146
INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEAHLA/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MEXICO 005362 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/MEX 
TREASURY FOR IA MEXICO DESK ALICE FAIBISHENKO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECIN ETRD MX
SUBJECT: JOINT BORDER GOVERNORS CONFERENCE CALLS ON FEDS TO 
DO MORE 
 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Sonora Governor Eduardo Boars sponsored the 25th 
Annual Border Governor's Conference in Puerto Penasco, 
Sonora.  Eight of the ten U.S. and Mexican border-state 
governors attended.  Mexican President Felipe Calderon called 
for cross-border labor mobility and cooperation in combating 
the drug trade in his speech to the opening plenary.  DHS 
Secretary Chertoff discussed the "virtual fence" and 
 
SIPDIS 
combating the drug trade.  While a lot of working group time 
was spent on housekeeping and reviewing last year's 
accomplishments, some groups did have productive discussions 
that will likely become requests to the federal government. 
The conference was also an opportunity for border governors 
to seek greater involvement from the federal governments, 
namely the USG. End Summary. 
 
Introduction 
------------ 
 
¶2. (U) The State of Sonora sponsored the 25th annual Border 
Governor's Conference, a yearly meeting of the governors of 
the 10 border states and their representatives to discuss 
issues affecting the region.  The state, in an effort to 
highlight the burgeoning tourism development of the region, 
hosted the conference in the seaside resort town of Puerto 
Penasco.  The growing community of 44,000 is known in the 
U.S. as Rocky Point and is situated approximately four hours 
south of Phoenix by car. 
Attendees included: 
 
Eduardo Bours - Sonora 
Jose Reyes Baeza - Chihuahua 
Jose Natividad Gonzalez - Nuevo Leon 
Eugenio Elorduy - Baja California 
Humberto Moreira - Coahuila 
Eugenio Hernandez - Tamaulipas 
 
Arnold Schwarzenegger - California 
Janet Napolitano - Arizona 
 
¶3. (U) Governors Bill Richardson of New Mexico and Rick Perry 
of Texas sent representatives.  Mexican President Felipe 
Calderon, U.S. Secretary for Homeland Security Michael 
Chertoff, Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Patricia 
Espinosa, Mexican Ambassador to the U.S., Arturo Sarukhan, 
Governor-Elect of Baja California, Jose Guadalupe Osuna 
Millan, and Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs for North 
American Affairs, Carlos Rico participated in various 
sessions. 
 
Working Group Highlights 
------------------------ 
¶4. (U) Governors and staff members attended a series of 
working group meetings followed by a plenary session where 
the governors were able to discuss the issues facing the 
region.  State representatives met during separate working 
groups covering agriculture, education, environment, economic 
development, water, energy, tourism, health, science and 
technology, logistics and international crossings, wildlife, 
and border security, as well as a special sub-working group 
specifically tackling emergencies and civilian protection 
cooperation.  Session highlights included: 
 
Logistics and International Crossings: 
 
¶5. (SBU) California representatives gave a presentation on 
WHTI and on the effectiveness of the double-stacked 
inspection booth concept that has been piloted over the last 
few months at the San Ysidro port of entry.  According to his 
presentation, the concept of building one booth immediately 
after the existing inspection booth a la Wal-Mart or Target 
is an inexpensive though labor intensive way to improve 
throughput by up to 46 percent.  The final declaration by the 
governors suggested installing double stacked booths widely 
on the US/Mexico border. 
 
Water: 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Governor of Tamaulipas, during his final 
comments at the plenary session, said that Mexico should 
comply with its water sharing requirements in accordance with 
the provisions of the U.S.-Mexico 1944 water treaty. His 
 
MEXICO 00005362  002 OF 003 
 
 
comment appeared directed at the Mexican federal government 
in support of Tamaulipas farmers who want the water allotted 
to the U.S. to come from the Conchos River basin and other 
listed sources further upstream, rather than those river 
systems that more directly affect Tamaulipas.  Conversely, 
Jose Luis Luege, Director General of the National Water 
Commission (CONAgua), said during the Water worktable meeting 
that Mexico would comply with its treaty obligation to fully 
deliver water in the latest water cycle to the U.S. through a 
storage transfer using water in Amistad and Falcon 
reservoirs. 
 
WHTI: 
 
¶7. (SBU) Participants in several working groups raised the 
Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI).  Border States 
requests that have already been granted include: postponement 
of the roll out date, the use of a cheaper alternative 
document to the passport, and a comprehensive study of the 
economic effects of the WHTI.  Border state representatives 
expressed concern over the lack of information on the 
pass-cards as a future alternative to passports; however, the 
rollout's postponement has calmed the states significantly. 
 
¶8. (SBU) According to the USG commissioned economic impact 
finding summarized during the economic development work 
group, there will be a small net increase in northbound 
crossings as document requirements will not change for 
Mexican travelers.   The combined gain from Canadian and 
Mexican travel across both borders into the U.S. is estimated 
to be 230 million USD per year.  While all the Border States 
are interested in WHTI implementation plans, the U.S. states 
appear to have a more active concern as the Mexican states 
are limited in their ability to lessen its effects. 
 
Emergencies and Civilian Protection: 
 
¶9. (SBU) The Emergencies and Civilian Protection group is a 
special non-standard working group, focuses on bi-national 
emergency response.  This relatively new, but very active 
group assigned states on each side of the border to take 
charge of cataloging available first responder training 
particularly in advance of the possibility of an influenza 
pandemic.  Participants assigned a second team to catalog 
first responder equipment slated for disposal that might be 
attractive to other jurisdictions.  At least one Mexican 
state delegate, though, took the Mexican federal civil 
protection representative to task for the historical reliance 
on used, donated equipment for civil protection services. 
Mexican federal officials responded that funding is provided 
to state governments for civil protection as well as other 
security needs, but it is often diverted at the state level 
to police departments rather than civil protection 
authorities.  One attendee suggested allocations be earmarked 
specifically for civil protect 
ion to assure adequate resources for the tasks at hand. 
 
¶10. (SBU)The delegates also discussed developing a first 
responder MOU between adjoining border states as a first step 
to securing a compact permitting emergency services from any 
of the ten border states to respond to crises in any other 
state, addressing liability and other legal issues involved. 
Some northeastern US states and neighboring Canadian 
provinces have signed a similar existing compact and are 
working on a second that could prove a model for US/Mexico 
border states. 
 
Calderon Addresses Migration and Drug Fight 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) During his opening session speech, President 
Calderon emphasized that his government recognized the 
importance of the recommendations coming out of the 
conference and that it should be powerful instrument to 
strengthen the integration between the two nations.  On 
migration he said that the two nations are complementary in 
that the U.S. has capital and Mexico has the labor force. 
Mexican workers complement the U.S. work force and should be 
treated with dignity and respect.  He acknowledged that 
immigration takes the strongest workers and separates 
families, and the only way to change the status quo is to 
generate conditions for prosperity in Mexico.   However, he 
said that the region as a whole must be competitive, not just 
one country, and freedom of capital and labor movement is as 
 
MEXICO 00005362  003 OF 003 
 
 
important to competitiveness as the free movement of goods 
and service covered by NAFTA. 
 
¶12. (SBU) On combating the drug trade and reestablishing rule 
of law, Calderon said both countries have separate duties to 
fight crime and insecurity.  He specifically noted that 
demand reduction was essential to reducing organized crime 
suppliers.  Calderon also addressed the need to stop the flow 
of money and arms to drug traffickers in order to stop the 
flow of drugs from traffickers. 
 
Chertoff Misses Speech but Talks to Press, Governors 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) Although DHS Secretary Chertoff was scheduled to 
address the closing session of the conference, flight delays 
caused him to arrive as Governor Bours was giving the closing 
remarks and he was unable to make his statement. 
Nonetheless, he was able to participate in the 30 minute 
press conference that followed the session.  He also had 
brief private meetings with SRE Undersecretary Rico and 
Governor Bours. He later met with Governors Napolitano and 
Schwarzenegger over lunch. 
 
¶14. (SBU) Press coverage focused on Chertoff's defense of the 
"virtual fence" and statements that the US and Mexico are 
discussing joint programs to address criminal gangs and drug 
trafficking.  In response to complaints that the federal 
government is not doing enough to alleviate the bottlenecks 
at border crossings, Chertoff said that DHS is increasing the 
number of lanes at ports of entry and looking into high-tech 
solutions to speed up crossings.  Chertoff praised President 
Calderon's efforts to battle the illegal drug trade and 
agreed with Calderon's statement on stemming the flow of 
weapons and money as well as drugs.  He mentioned work 
between the USG and GOM to find partnership activities to 
fight organized crime. 
 
Conclusion 
---------- 
 
¶15. (SBU) Many of the working groups spent the majority of 
the time reviewing the accomplishments made in the year since 
the previous conference.  Some topics, such as water, border 
security, and international crossings, were deemed federal 
issues and are thus impossible to solve at the border 
governor level.  Governors from both sides criticized what 
they saw as unresponsiveness on the side of the U.S. 
government in dealing with border problems.  The Mexican 
government showed strong support for the border governors, 
evidenced by President Calderon's attendance at the 
inauguration ceremony and the federal participation in the 
working groups.  Arizona Governor Napolitano summed up 
participant sentiments by calling for the U.S. federal 
government to do more to help tackle the issues facing the 
border region.  She said, "Our federal government can no 
longer satisfy us simply by coming to a meeting and giving a 
speech.  What we require are resources and dedication and a 
priority setting that has yet to be seen." 
The state of California held the vice presidency and, in 
accordance with tradition, will host next year's conference 
in Hollywood. 
 
 
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 / 
BASSETT