VZCZCXRO2560
RR RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHME #6185/01 3482255
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 142255Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9917
INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEABNE/DEA EPIC EL PASO TX
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MEXICO 006185 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KCRM SNAR SMIG ECON EINV KDEM PINR
PHUM, MX 
SUBJECT: MEXICO: ITQ,S DIFFERENT ON THE BORDER 
 
¶1.  Summary.  Deputy PolCouns recently traveled to several 
destinations on the Mexican border with the U.S. as part of 
an orientation trip.  The visit reaffirmed the perception 
that life in the north of Mexico and, in particular on the 
border with the U.S., is different from any other place in 
Mexico.  On the positive side, the region is characterized by 
greater prosperity and a deeper sense of community with the 
U.S.  On the downside, it suffers more acutely from the 
effects of narcotics trafficking and the movement of migrants 
from southern Mexico heading north.  All segments of society 
signaled openness to greater cooperation with the U.S. in 
combating organized crime but also exhibited a genuine 
reluctance bordering on fear about discussing in depth 
perpetrators of drug trafficking.  End Summary. 
 
We're Neighbors Up Here 
----------------------- 
 
¶2.  Deputy PolCouns visited with Mexicans from many different 
segments of society Q) government officials, businessmen, and 
NGO representatives Q) in Nuevo Laredo, Nogales, Hermosillo 
and Tijuana.  Almost all universally talked of the sense of 
community they share with their U.S. neighbors to the North. 
Businessmen in Nuevo Laredo and local PAN politicians in 
Hermosillo stressed the importance they attach to regular 
meetings with their counterparts respectively in Texas and 
Arizona to tackle challenges that know no borders such as 
water, pollution, and crime.  Many have property in the U.S. 
or frequently cross the border to spend vacations with 
friends.  They don't regard Americans as their adversaries or 
even their competitors but, more often than not, their 
partners in pursuing economic opportunities or allies in 
looking for solutions to problems. 
 
Drug Trafficking: The Elephant in the Living Room 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶3.  Government officials, businessmen, and NGOs all share a 
common concern about the impact of drug trafficking and the 
attendant violence and crime on the region.  Officials in 
Nuevo Laredo suggested violence had declined over the last 
year, thanks in no small measure to the visible presence of 
the military in the region.  At the same time, they 
acknowledged underreporting could be a problem with reporters 
either disinclined to report on violence either out of 
concern about the impact on region's reputation or out of 
fear for their lives due to threats from traffickers.  PRI 
insider Antonio Pena openly acknowledged that few politicians 
in the region weren't in some way tainted by association with 
drug traffickers.  Amcits continue to face assaults upon 
crossing the border and the cases of some 24 missing 
Americans have not been resolved.  While there was some 
anecdotal evidence of emergent economic activity in the wake 
of reduced violence, Americans were still not crossing the 
borders in numbers akin to 10 years ago. 
 
¶4.  Businessmen in Nuevo Laredo worried about the direct and 
indirect effects the drug trade was producing on life in the 
region.  Drug traffickers would pressure businessmen and 
officials to help move their product.  They also increasingly 
shake down businessmen for monthly payments if they don't 
want to be harassed.  Asked if they register complaints with 
security officials, the businessmen exhibited reluctance 
bordering on fear.  First, they don't trust officials to act 
effectively on information they share with them.  Second, 
they are clearly afraid that traffickers would go after them 
if they discovered they were informing on their activities. 
 
¶5.  PAN politicians in Hermosillo, Sonora sought to play down 
the threat drug trafficking posed to their state suggesting 
problems were more an issue in neighboring Sinaloa, the home 
of the Sinaloa Cartel.   They maintained that their state had 
not suffered the same kind of violence as other states within 
the region and, to date, the state government had resisted 
deployment of the military in significant numbers in the 
state.  Representatives of the NGO Sonora Ciudadana had a 
different take.  This group, headed by young, energetic, 
bright activists, represents a citizensQ, watch organization 
dedicated to reporting on government malfeasance and 
incompetence, particularly as it relates to budget 
expenditures.  The group produces well-documented reports to 
back up their hard-hitting attacks on government officials. 
However, when asked about their investigation into drug 
cartels, the group's Director Guillermo Ruibal explicitly 
stated they had no intention of getting involved on this 
issue.  The cartels killed people who threatened their 
interests, and he had no desire to expose his people to that 
kind of risk. 
 
 
MEXICO 00006185  002 OF 003 
 
 
¶6.  Assistant to the Attorney General in Tijuana, Jorge 
Arturo Ramirez Lugo, was proud of government efforts to crack 
down on drug traffickers in the region.  He drew attention to 
the arrest of important cartel leaders and major busts.  The 
military had assumed a significant role in recent success. 
Adela Navarro, the prize-winning Director of the weekly 
newspaper Zeta, manifested no fear of the consequences of 
going after violent criminal interests.  Kidnappings are 
occurring in greater numbers in the Tijuana area and Navarro 
had recently authored an investigatory report into links 
within the police ranks.  Assailants attempted to assassinate 
the newspaper's editor/founder several years ago after the 
paper produced a report revealing the structure of the 
Arellano Felix Organization.  However, Navarro maintained she 
had received no threats on her life to date.  She planned to 
continue reporting on criminal activities and conjectured 
that if she were killed it probably would happen without 
warning. 
 
Help Us Help You 
---------------- 
 
¶7.  Mexicans from practically all segments welcomed greater 
cooperation with the U.S.  Zeta Director Navarro called for 
efforts to assist the police, both local and federal.  She 
remarked that federal police stationed temporarily in Baja 
California are provided with meager resources.  They sleep in 
cramped quarters and are rationed out little food and 
provided shoddy weapons.  Coordination among the different 
elements of the security forces remains poor and 
characterized by distrust.  The local forces, in particular, 
are riddled by corruption.  When the military confiscated the 
weapons of the police in the process of trying to trace 
bullets used in the commission of a high-profile crime, 
assaults and murders actually went down.  She urged the U.S. 
to do more to strengthen and reform the police at all levels. 
 She also stressed the need for the U.S. to do more to curb 
the trafficking of arms into Mexico. 
 
¶8.  Jose Maria Ramos Garcia, the Director General of Academic 
Studies at Tijuana's El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, 
expressed strong support for greater U.S. cooperation but 
worried that U.S. attention and assistance would wane.  He 
also stressed the need to address the soft side of the fight 
against drugs.  Mexico was dealing with its own drug 
consumption problem and needed to dedicate more resources to 
fight demand.  He appreciated the security force's need for 
more resources to disrupt the cartelsQ, activities. 
Ultimately, however, the largest challenge facing Mexico's 
police was cultural.  He was familiar with the Culture of 
Lawfulness program and urged that the program be expanded so 
it could serve a cornerstone of our efforts to transform the 
police into an effective crime fighting organization.  He 
also called attention to strengthening the ability of the 
police to investigate crime as part of an effort to free up 
more time of prosecutors to prosecute and convict criminals. 
 
Dealing with Migration 
---------------------- 
 
¶9.  Migration was a common theme in meetings with both 
Mexicans and U.S. officials on the border.  Deputy PolCouns 
visited U.S. Ports of Entry in Laredo, Sasabe, and Tijuana, 
observing first hand the challenges that face U.S. agencies 
and the kinds of resources the U.S. government is dedicating 
to protection of our border with Mexico. 
 
-- Laredo represents the most important border crossing 
points for trucks with an average of 6,100 trucks crossing 
into the U.S. at the World Trade Bridge and Colombia Bridge 
daily.  Presently, Laredo has 8 lanes dedicated to truck 
crossing at the World Trade Bridge but is looking to 
establish 7 more.  Every truck is inspected for radioactive 
materials.  CBP officials rely on their instincts and experts 
reviewing trafficking trends to select trucks for inspection 
(that last 1 to 1 + hours) for drugs or other contraband. 
CBP officials remarked that at least three firms, registered 
to participate in the Demonstration Trucking Project that 
allows Mexican drivers to deliver their loads into the 
interior of the U.S., have been transporting their goods 
across the World Trade Bridge.  At the Lincoln-Juarez Bridge 
alone, 100 buses cross each day while 13,000 cars cross 
monthly.  Through September, Laredo officials had seized 
approximately 7,000 lbs of cocaine and 35,000 lbs of 
marijuana. 
 
-- Altar, a city of some 7,500 inhabitants located 
approximately 80 km south of the border crossing at Sasabe, 
serves a staging ground for Mexicans looking to cross 
 
MEXICO 00006185  003 OF 003 
 
 
illegally into the U.S.  Upscale buses deliver young Mexican 
males from around the country in preparation for their trip 
north.  Open markets specialize in dark clothing, hiking 
shoes, insect repellent, suntan lotion, backpacks, and energy 
bars for the hardy traveler to the U.S. Romeo Monteverde 
Estrella, the President of the Municipal Council in Altar, a 
former illegal migrant to the U.S. himself, told Deputy 
PolCouns that the number of hopeful migrants to the U.S. had 
not declined in recent years, maintaining his city continued 
to produce as much trash as neighboring towns twice the size 
of Altar.  He conveyed sensitivity about U.S. concerns 
regarding the movement of potential terrorists across the 
border.  He recalled the case of several Iraqis apprehended 
locally whom he said had been sentenced to several years in 
jail.  An elderly man collects 30 pesos (approximately $2.75) 
from each vehicle heading north for the 80 km trip on an 
unpaved road from Altar to the border on the border.  An army 
outpost located some 12 km from the border stops vans making 
the trip, ostensibly looking for drugs, before travelers 
continue north for the last segment. 
 
-- The border crossing at Sasabe is dominated by construction 
of the Q&wallQ8 which consists of solid 18-20 ft long steel 
poles that extend another 5-6 ft underground and weigh 
4,000-5,000 lbs each.  Presently, the wall extends some 2 + 
miles west and 4 + miles east of the port of entry.  CBP 
officials report illegal crossings in the vicinity of the 
wall are down dramatically, attributing the reduction 
directly to the wall. 
 
-- Tijuana receives the greatest number of visitors of any 
U.S. POE.  CBP officials man 24 vehicle primary lanes at the 
principal port (San Ysidro) and another 13 at the Otay Mesa 
crossing.  At San Ysidro, CBP processes approximately 110,000 
visitors daily crossing either in some 50,000 cars or by 
foot.  Otay Mesa processes approximately 15,000 cars and 
9,000 pedestrians.  CBP is awaiting construction of a new 
$600 million port to be completed in 2014 that would have a 
total of 58 stacked booths in 29 lanes.  The current POE has 
reserved a room for Mexican Consular officials to use in 
meeting with any minors who are detained while attempting to 
cross the border.  ICE officials reported greater success in 
working more closely with Mexican officials to recover 
vehicles and disrupt drug operations.  CBP officials stressed 
that they would like to see a CBP liaison officer assigned to 
Consulate in Tijuana facilitate informational exchange on 
operations and developments.  Rafael Alarcon, the Director of 
the Social Studies Department at Tijuana's Colegio de la 
Frontera Norte and an expert on Mexican migration to the 
U.S., believed tough U.S. immigration policies were impacting 
the numbers of Mexicans making the sojourn north.  He 
suggested these policies would contribute to a Q&migration of 
the fittest,Q8 with fewer women and children seeking to make 
the trip but young men continuing to take their chances. 
 
¶10.  Comment.  Mexicans living on the border with the U.S. 
recognize that their relative prosperity flows in large 
measure from their extensive economic ties with the U.S. 
They embrace opportunities to deepen that relationship 
through cooperation on economic projects and on efforts to 
address common challenges.  They are also acutely sensitive 
to the threat drug trafficking poses to their way of life. 
Drug-related violence along the border remains high as is 
concern about the influence organized crime brings to bear 
upon political institutions and the local businessmen.  Most 
strongly support greater cooperation with the U.S. in 
combating organized crime but call for particular attention 
to strengthening local and federal police forces.  They 
tolerate the increased delays that come with stricter border 
controls but worry about the growing number of migrants who 
take up residence in their States when they are turned back 
from the U.S.  Strengthening the relationship that exists 
amongst the communities on both sides of the border should 
only help our countries better meet the challenges we share. 
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 / 
BASSETT