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DE RUEHME #0199/01 0251526
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251526Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0231
INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RUEHBE/AMEMBASSY BELIZE 0001
RUEHGT/AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA 3600
RUEHMU/AMEMBASSY MANAGUA 0976
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA 2235
RUEHSJ/AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE 1767
RUEHSN/AMEMBASSY SAN SALVADOR 2500
RUEHTG/AMEMBASSY TEGUCIGALPA 1676

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 MEXICO 000199 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR OES/IHA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: APER ELAB KWMN MX PGOV PHUM PREF PREL SMIG
TBIO 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR LAGON APPLAUDS PROGRESS, IDENTIFIES 
OUTSTANDING CHALLENGES ON TIP IN MEXICO 
 
REF: 07 MEXICO 5704 
 
¶1.    Summary:  On January 9-12, Ambassador Mark P. Lagon, 
Director, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons 
(G/TIP), met with Mexican immigration officials and NGOs in 
Tapachula, Chiapas to discuss trafficking in persons (TIP), 
especially with regard to Central Americans entering Mexico. 
During Ambassador Lagon's trip to Mexico, he also met with 
the Mexican Attorney General, Eduardo Tomas Medina-Mora 
Icaza, National Human Rights Commission's (CNDH) Program 
Coordinator Against Trafficking in Persons, Dr. Sadot Sanchez 
Carreno, National Migration Institute's Commissioner, Cecilia 
Romero and representatives from Mexico's Foreign Relations 
Secretariat (SRE).  Anti-TIP discussions focused on progress 
 
SIPDIS 
since Lagon's last visit in August and steps the GOM plans to 
take to strengthen efforts to combat TIP in the wake of 
Mexico's passage of a new anti-TIP federal law.  End Summary. 
 
AMBASSADOR LAGON EXPLORES MEXICO-GUATEMALA BORDER 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶2.    Lax border regulation characterizes much of Mexico's 
southern border.   Mexican immigration officials told Lagon 
that there are segments of the border without security 
officials to regulate the flow of products or people into the 
country, stressing the need for better technology and 
manpower to combat illegal activities.  On the other hand, 
immigration officials insisted they were committed to 
combating the sex and labor trafficking flowing into Mexico 
from the South.  Mexico's National Migration Institute (INM) 
described a plan to issue new work permits (which will 
include workers' biographical information) that will be used 
to track workers and their employers.  This is seen as one 
way to address trafficking flows.  The new work permits will 
allow migration officials to do periodic checks on employers 
to ensure that they are following correct hiring procedures. 
Cecilia Romero, INM's Commissioner said that the new work 
permits are expected to take effect later this year. 
 
 
CHALLENGES FOR CENTRAL AMERICAN MIGRANTS ENTERING MEXICO 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶3.    Labor exploitation is one of the biggest concerns for 
officials in Tapachula, in the southern part of the State of 
Chiapas on Mexico's southwest border with Guatemala.  Several 
complaints have been filed against farm owners exploiting 
Central American guest workers who work on coffee, mango or 
sugar cane plantations in southern Mexico.  In addition to 
labor exploitation, migrants are vulnerable to becoming 
victims of sex trafficking, organized crime groups, disease, 
and corrupt police officials.  Ciudad Talisman and Ciudad 
Hidalgo are the two towns in Chiapas that figure most 
prominently in the region's sex and labor trafficking 
problems: 
 
--Ciudad Talisman located north of Tapachula is the gathering 
point for Central Americans looking for work and/or heading 
north. 
 
--Ciudad Hidalgo located south of Tapachula is known for 
significant numbers of individuals involved in sex 
trafficking and prostitution. 
 
¶4.    In addition to challenges involving sex and labor 
exploitation, Juan Artola, Chief of Mission at the 
International Organization for Migration (IOM) said migration 
has caused Dengue Fever to spread throughout Chiapas and that 
their organization expects to host a joint conference on 
Dengue Fever, Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and migrant health with 
the Ministry of Health in the state of Chiapas.  Artola 
expects to hold the conference later this year. (Comment: 
Reftel reported the dengue infection rate to be higher in 
Chiapas than in Guatemala, suggesting that the disease is 
more endemic to Chiapas than imported.  End comment.) 
 
AMBASSADOR LAGON DISCUSSES TIP WITH NGOS in TAPACHULA 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶5.    While in Tapachula, Ambassador Lagon met on January 10 
over lunch with NGOs and government officials from Tapachula, 
 
MEXICO 00000199  002 OF 004 
 
 
Guatemala and El Salvador.  TIP represents a major concern 
for government officials and NGOs in Tapachula who face a 
constant flow of migrants into shelters but with little 
resources to support them.  Government officials from Central 
America and Mexico all agreed that their own officials lack 
the resources and training to identify and protect victims. 
NGOs said that the lack of proper training limits the 
relationship that they have with authorities on TIP issues. 
Government officials from Central America concluded their 
meeting with Ambassador Lagon requesting USG assistance in 
providing training and resources for their countries in 
identifying and providing assistance to victims. 
 
AMBASSADOR LAGON TOURS SHELTERS AND INTERVIEWS TIP VICTIM 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶6.    Ambassador Lagon toured INM detention centers, a TIP 
shelter- Casa del Migrante, to learn more about facilities 
available for TIP victims.  Afterwards, Ambassador Lagon 
spoke with a 17-year-old trafficking victim in the course of 
his visit.  She described in detail how she was a victim of 
sexual abuse and internal sex trafficking from Tapachula. 
With great anguish, the victim recounted how family friends 
had placed her into contact with a local woman who offered 
her a job in a bar.  Once separated from her family, the 
victim was isolated, beaten, raped and forced to have sex 
with different men, including the woman's husband.  Still 
suffering from the severe trauma of this experience, the 
victim is now assisting with the prosecution of her case and 
receiving assistance from IOM. 
 
 
COMMISSIONER OPTIMISTIC BUT RECOGNIZES CHALLENGES AHEAD 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶7.    INM's Commissioner, Cecilia Romero, used her meeting 
with Lagon to highlight efforts to address TIP over the last 
six months and possible future challenges in the wake of 
Mexico's newly adopted anti-TIP law.  Although Romero seemed 
optimistic about the law and the number of migration 
officials trained, she was honest about the amount of work 
Mexico needs to do in order to ensure that the law 
effectively addresses TIP.  Romero identified the following 
challenges Mexico faces in making progress in combating TIP: 
lack of funds to support the new law, insufficient public 
awareness about the issue, and under-trained law enforcement 
officials to address the psychological needs of a TIP victim. 
 Lagon applauded the GOM's adoption of the new law and 
stressed that the U.S. was here "to help" Mexico.  Romero 
ended the meeting by saying that she hopes to obtain more 
help in training agents on identifying and providing services 
to victims of trafficking. 
 
SRE SEEKS TO INTERNATIONALIZE TIP 
------------------------------ 
 
¶8.    SRE's Under Secretary for North America, Carlos Rico, 
described the State Department's Annual Report on TIP as an 
"irritant."  Mexico sought to address TIP not because of 
criticism registered in the report but out of genuine concern 
about the problem.  Rico sought to draw attention to efforts 
the U.S. could assume to better address the two countries' 
shared responsibilities in combating trafficking.  To that 
end, he expressed concern about Mexican citizens exploited in 
the U.S. and expressed Mexico's interest in working 
collaboratively to identify and assist them.  He also 
welcomed cooperation with U.S. authorities in developing a 
concrete joint action plan as well as joint efforts to 
address TIP on international fora including OAS and the UN. 
Lagon stressed the importance he attached to a 
victim-centered approach to tackling TIP.  He praised Mexico 
for passing a strong anti-TIP law; the challenge now was to 
implement the law including identifying proper resources and 
creating a vetted unit to investigate, prosecute and convict 
traffickers. 
 
CNDH EXPRESS CONCERN OVER 2008 TIER RANKING 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶9.    On January 11, Ambassador Lagon met with Dr. Sadot 
Sanchez Carreno, Coordinator for the Trafficking in Persons 
 
MEXICO 00000199  003 OF 004 
 
 
Program at CNDH, to discuss the creation of new TIP working 
groups within CNDH.  Sanchez used the meeting to highlight 
the accomplishments made since the last TIP report insisting 
that the 2007 TIP Report was incorrect.  Sanchez committed 
the organization to becoming more involved with TIP in the 
future and urged that the USG work closely with the 
Commission when drafting future TIP reports. 
 
 
AMBASSADOR LAGON and ATTORNEY GENERAL ADDRESS PREVENTION, 
PROTECTION AND PROSECUTIONS 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶10.   In a cordial meeting with Mexican Attorney General, 
Eduardo Medina Mora, Ambassador Lagon, received updates on 
three major anti-trafficking developments in Mexico: recent 
enactment of a new federal anti-trafficking law; a Mexican 
Congressional appropriation of $7 million USD to open a 
trafficking shelter for women and children; and designation 
of the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Crimes Related to 
Acts of Violence Against Women (FEVIM) as the lead on 
anti-TIP cases within PGR.  The Attorney General said that 
Mexico's Public Security Secretariat (SSP) expects to follow 
a European police model and assign female police officers to 
trafficking cases in order to build more trust with victims. 
 
--PREVENTION: 
 
AG Medina Mora highlighted the enactment of the new federal 
law against trafficking in persons.  Ambassador Lagon 
applauded Mexico on the passage of the new law while pointing 
out that more work needs to be done. 
 
 
--WITNESS PROTECTION: 
 
Ambassador Lagon expressed concern about limiting the 
proposed trafficking shelter to women and minors, since it 
would exclude adult male victims, who are typically victims 
of labor trafficking.  In regards to shelters, AG Medina Mora 
responded that adult males do not face the same kinds of 
risks as women and children further anticipating that the new 
shelter will open before the end of 2008.  Medina Mora also 
indicated that the GOM may utilize several properties 
confiscated from drug-traffickers, but that the effort is 
still in the design stage.  A shelter may be opened 
provisionally until a permanent location can be found, and 
centers for victim assistance may be opened as well. 
 
--PROSECUTIONS: 
 
GOM officials noted the shared problem of sex tourism between 
Mexico and the U.S., and that Mexico is prosecuting more 
cases along its northern border.  Ambassador Lagon noted his 
concern about U.S. nationals engaging in sex tourism in 
Mexico, and expressed his appreciation for the tremendous 
day-to-day cooperation between the two nations, particularly 
in the area of law enforcement.  Ambassador Lagon continued 
to stress the importance of gathering better data on TIP 
cases to better understand the scope of the problem as well 
as actions taken at the local level to address it.  He 
stressed the importance of cooperation between federal, state 
and local prosecutors.  In response, AG Medina Mora discussed 
the creation of a vetted unit and providing training 
specifically for TIP within the Special Prosecutor's Office 
for Violence Against Women (FEVIM).  He said that the GOM is 
initiating information sharing between PGR and state attorney 
generals. 
 
 
NGO EXPRESS SUPPORT FOR TIP 
--------------------------- 
 
¶11.   In a meeting with Mario Luis Fuentes, Director of 
CEIDAS (Centro de Estudios e Investigacion en Desarrollo y 
Asistencia Social), a G/TIP sub-grantee, Fuentes conveyed his 
concern that financial resources have not been set aside in 
Mexico's 2008 budget to implement the new federal anti-TIP 
law, particularly in terms of training government officials 
and developing data to research and analyze the scope of the 
problem in-country.  Moreover, a government lead for the new 
 
MEXICO 00000199  004 OF 004 
 
 
law's interagency committee has not yet been named, so the 
committee is not operating.  Fuentes further noted his 
concerns about the inability of the current judicial system 
to process TIP cases, and indicated that Mexico's new 
anti-TIP law is a "lame duck" without judicial reform.  He 
stressed the need for training judicial officials about the 
new law, in addition to training on effective victim 
protection techniques and reintegrating TIP victims back into 
society.  Fuentes also recommended that Mexico develop 
"minimum norms" for constructing victim shelters applicable 
to both the government and NGOs, in addition to conducting 
research on whether drug trafficking networks are being used 
to move TIP victims.  Fuentes suggested that the USG expand 
the "best practices" section of the annual TIP report, and 
that USG outreach be conducted in this area.  Fuentes told 
Ambassador Lagon about two future projects: developing a 
report about the anti-trafficking efforts of Mexico's 32 
states, similar to the USG's annual TIP report, which is 
planned for release in December 2008 and working with 
high-school and university students to raise anti-TIP 
awareness and build leadership capacity. 
 
¶12.  COMMENT:  Lagon's visit to the southern border 
reinforced the challenges local officials face in combating 
trafficking given Mexico's meager resources, under-trained 
officials, and weak structures.  Mexican government officials 
were optimistic about the passage of the new law but 
recognized the challenges ahead.  Continued U.S. support -- 
political, technical, and financial -- is vital.  Mexico has 
demonstrated its commitment by adopting its new law.  For the 
law to realize its full potential however, officials will 
need to identify more resources to assist victims and the 
political will to prosecute and convict victims. 
 
 
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