VZCZCXRO4585
RR RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHM RUEHHO RUEHJO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHPOD
RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHME #6033/01 3391947
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051947Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9783
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RUEHXI/LABOR COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHINGTON DC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MEXICO 006033 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR INC/C (BROWN/CORDOVA), DRL/AWH AND ILCSR, WHA/MEX 
FOR DDARRACH, AND DOL FOR ILAB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB SNAR ECON PGOV PINR SOCI MX
SUBJECT: UNION DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION INITIATIVE EXPANDS TO 
HERMOSILLO 
 
REF: (A) MEXICO 4114 (B) MEXICO 5367 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY: In early November AmConsul Hermosillo and 
Embassy Mexico City,s Labor Counselor met with officials 
from the CTM, Mexico,s largest labor federation, and with 
various levels of GOM and NGO officials to discuss the 
problem of drug abuse in the workplace.  This initiative, 
which is the outgrowth of talks between Mission Labor 
Counselor and the CTM on potential areas of increased 
cooperation between the union and the USG, began in mid-2007. 
 At that time AmConsul Matamoros enthusiastically embraced 
the idea of hosting a meeting to discuss ways to prevent drug 
abuse in the workplace as a way to further promote the 
commitment made by Presidents Bush and Calderon in March 2007 
to increase US/Mexico border cooperation.  A first meeting on 
the topic was ultimately held at AmConsul Matamoros, offices 
in July and since then follow-up meetings have occurred in 
both Matamoros and Mexico City.  This initial meeting in 
Hermosillo was more widely attended than the first similar 
meeting in Matamoros and, perhaps as a consequence, was much 
more cautious in setting goals and objectives.  The 
participants at the Hermosillo meeting were very concerned 
about the sustainability of any actions the group might 
jointly decide to take.  A great deal of discussion was 
devolved to the severity and consequences of the problem of 
drug abuse in Hermosillo area to an assessment of what the 
group could realistically do to address this situation.  At 
the conclusion of these discussions the group agreed to take 
the concerns raised to their respective home offices and then 
to meet again on December 6.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
AMCONSUL HERMOSILLO JOINS DISCUSSION ON PROBLEMS OF DRUG ABUSE 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
 
¶2.  On November 6, AmConsul Hermosillo effectively joined the 
effort which began this past July in Matamoros to work 
together with the CTM, Mexico,s largest labor federation, to 
attempt to address the problems of drug abuse in the 
workplace.  This initiative of joint USG and union 
cooperation began in July of 2007 when AmConsul Matamoros 
hosted an exploratory meeting (REF A) to discuss the severity 
of the problem and possible common actions to help deal with 
this situation.  As a result of that first meeting in 
Matamoros the consulate there has begun working with the 
union and the area,s business community to develop 
strategies that would draw primarily on local resources. 
 
¶3.  This initial meeting in Hermosillo was much different 
than the first similar meeting in Matamoros in that it was 
more widely attended.  A broad range of Mexican government 
officials attended the Hermosillo meeting from both the 
federal and state level as well as representatives from NGOs 
and specialized agencies with experience in dealing with the 
problems of drug abuse.  The USG was represented at this 
meeting by AmConsul Hermosillo,s Principal officer, its 
Labor Watcher and Mission Mexico,s Labor Counselor.  The 
most senior GOM official present appeared to be a 
representative from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE). 
 
¶4.  The some of the participants at the November 6 meeting 
were as follows: 
 
Representative from Sonora office of the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs (SRE); 
Representatives from Director of the Public Security 
Secretariat,s (SSP) Crime Prevention Office; 
 
SIPDIS 
Representatives from Sonora office of Secretariat of Labor 
(STPS); 
Representatives from the Director General of the Center for 
Youth Integration (CIJ, a parastatal agency affiliated with 
the Secretariat of Health); 
Representatives from Secretariat of Health (SS); 
Deputy Secretary General, CTM Sonora; 
Representatives from the CTM,s National HQ; 
 
 
NO INTEREST IN A PHOTO OP 
------------------------- 
 
 
MEXICO 00006033  002 OF 003 
 
 
¶5.  From the very start of the Hermosillo meeting its 
participants made clear that they were not interested in 
becoming involved in an exercise that would amount to little 
more than a photo opportunity.  This sentiment was first 
stated by the deputy head of the CTM,s Hermosillo, Sonora 
office and then quickly echoed by others in attendance.  The 
meeting then began to touch on the severity of the problems 
in Mexico,s northwestern state of Sonora and the difficulty 
of taking on an initiative to combat this dilemma that would 
be truly sustainable. Considerable discussion was devoted to 
the complexity of helping people who are already drug abuser 
and to the impact of drug abuse on family members who are not 
drug users and on the broader community. 
 
¶6.  When the meeting turned to possible concrete first steps 
the discussion focused on such things as the pros and cons of 
different types of treatment as opposed prevention 
strategies. The CTM representative from the union,s national 
office in Mexico City spoke at length about resources and 
commitments the union had already obtained to devote the drug 
prevention initiative.  The SRE representative voiced her 
agency,s general support for the goals of the overall 
initiative but made clear that at this point, despite being 
perhaps the most senior GOM federal official at the meeting, 
her purpose in attending was to record the details of the 
discussion and then relay them to higher level SRE officials 
in Mexico City. 
 
¶7.  Later in the meeting AmConsul Hermosillo,s PO drew on 
his experiences serving at posts in EAP to help guide the 
discussion with regard to actions that produce desired 
results and those that sound nice but are often less than 
effective.  He noted that he had personally seen how 
methamphetamines were rapidly and severely addictive, and 
caused largely irreversible mental damage and violent 
behavior.  Methamphetamine use appeared to be on the rise in 
Sonora and Sinaloa, states within the Hermosillo consular 
district, because narco-traffickers were using it to pay off 
small couriers, who began to sell it locally.  School 
children were being targeted and street crime and home break 
-ns appeared to be increasing as a consequence.  The growth 
of this part of Mexico as a methamphetamine market, not 
simply a transit point, was occurring in an environment of 
deep ignorance about the drug itself.  Even local law 
enforcement appeared to have trouble identifying the drug and 
seemed unaware of its dangers.  Better education about 
methamphetamines was urgently needed throughout society, and 
could be especially effective in the workplace. 
 
¶8.  This was then followed up by a presentation/summary of a 
tentative agreement reached after a meeting in Mexico City 
(REF B) to adopt a how-to manual developed by Mexico,s 
National Institute of Psychiatry (INP) as the focus of 
efforts to combat workplace drug abuse.  The INP manual, 
entitled Alcohol and Drugs in the Workplace: A Manual for 
Prevention provides step-by-step instructions for developing 
a drug abuse prevention program.  As in the discussions in 
Mexico City the goal of this part of the meeting was to 
accept the INP manual as a common guide for all actors 
interested in addressing the problem of drug abuse in the 
workplace so that everyone involved would be starting from 
the same place and following a shared plan of action. 
 
 
WE NEED TO DISCUSS THIS WITH HQ 
------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  One of the major points that became clear be the end of 
the Hermosillo meeting was the complexity of developing a 
sustainable program that could successfully address the 
difficulties drug abuse in general and in the workplace in 
particular.  All of the participants of the Hermosillo 
meeting expressed their support for the initiative but most 
(of the federal GOM officials at least) felt that it was 
necessary to relate the details of gathering,s discussion to 
their respective head quarters before committing themselves 
to any next steps. Consequently, it was agreed that all of 
the participants should be given an opportunity to review the 
details of the meeting with their head offices and that a 
follow up meeting would be held in Hermosillo on December 6 
 
MEXICO 00006033  003 OF 003 
 
 
report on and/or coordinate and decisions reached back in 
their HQs. 
 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶10. The general tone of this initial Hermosillo meeting was 
one of studied caution.  One reason for this was probably the 
number and variety of the participants at the meeting but it 
also was probably a result of a realistic assessment of the 
size of the problem under discussion.  That said, the 
meeting,s participants seemed to genuinely understand the 
need for some sort of concerted action and sooner rather than 
later.  Hopefully the follow-up meeting in December will get 
the drug abuse prevention initiative off to a sound start in 
the Hermosillo consular district and further build on the 
budding USG/union cooperation. 
 
¶11.  THIS MESSAGE WAS CLEARED WITH AMCONSUL HERMOSILLO. 
 
 
 
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