VZCZCXRO9143
PP RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHMC #0100/01 0582225
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 272225Z FEB 08
FM AMCONSUL MONTERREY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2734
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO PRIORITY 3621
INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHMC/AMCONSUL MONTERREY 8099

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MONTERREY 000100 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
PASS TO USTR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV EAID ECON KCRM EIND EINV SMIG SNAR SOCI MX
SUBJECT: SAN LUIS POTOSI GROWING ECONOMICALLY BUT NOT ENOUGH TO 
PROVIDE NEEDED JOBS 
 
MONTERREY 00000100  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  In a February 12 meeting with San Luis Potosi 
Governor Marcelo de los Santos Fraga (PAN), the Governor told 
the Consul General that the state's current economic situation 
is strong and growing and projected a 50% increase in jobs by 
the end of his administration in the summer of 2009.  The 
Secretary of Economic Development was equally upbeat, noting 
 
SIPDIS 
that the state is growing faster than expected.  However, 
meetings with media leaders and the state's largest university 
painted a different picture, one of concern over the lack of 
professional opportunities for young people and the growing gap 
between rich and poor.  During their February 12-14 visit to San 
Luis Potosi, the CG and EconOff observed that foreign investment 
opportunities for economic growth in the state are increasing, 
but remain limited.  Meetings with security officials also 
indicated that, although the state remains relatively free of 
narco-violence and activity, common crime appears to be on the 
rise.  The growing concern is that the state's strategic central 
location and role as a transit point will inevitably lead to an 
increase in organized crime.  Key security officials are taking 
a proactive role to prevent this and requested U.S. government 
support, specifically for more training and greater cooperation 
with U.S. law enforcement agencies.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) The state of San Luis Potosi (SLP) is located in the 
north central part of Mexico.  Its capital of the same name sits 
approximately at the midpoint of a triangle formed by Monterrey, 
Guadalajara and Mexico City.  The majority of the population 
lives within the metropolitan area of the capital (which has an 
approximate population of two million); the total state 
population is 2.5 million.  SLP is divided into four regions and 
has 58 municipalities.  Although it began as a mining 
settlement, today the capital is more of an industrial city and 
a distribution point for foreign and domestic merchandise. 
Agriculture and ranching continue to be important industries, 
and there is a growing tourism industry.  Governor de los Santos 
noted that SLP's historic downtown center may soon be named a 
UNESCO World Heritage site. 
 
 
A Younger Version of Monterrey 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) San Luis Potosi is strategically placed to be a transit 
point in all directions.  It is at a mid-way point between 
Monterrey and Mexico City.  In addition, the current 
administration of Governor de los Santos has invested 
considerably in expanding and improving infrastructure.  For 
example, a new road from Mazatlan to Tampico that cuts through 
SLP has been completed.  Governor de los Santos reported that 
there is another new road in the works from SLP to Matamoros 
that will cut the transport time to the border to five hours, 
down from the current eight.  The airport is also being 
expanded.  According to Carlos Barcena Pous, Secretary of the 
SLP Economic Development Agency (SEDECO), 65% of all cargo 
passes through SLP.  Barcena cited SLP's economic advantages as 
its location, combination of infrastructure and investment on 
both the public and private side, and its people. 
 
¶4. (U) Barcena reported that 35% of SLP's GDP is industry-based, 
with a 2007 GDP of 16.6 billion USD.  Its exports in 2007 
totaled 1.72 billion USD and FDI from 1999-2007 was 935.6 
million USD.  At the end of 2007, SLP's growth rate was 4.3%, 
higher than the national growth rate.  That put SLP into the top 
8 among all Mexican states.  In manufacturing, it was ranked 4th 
place with a growth rate of 5.2%.  Barcena noted that SLP is the 
5th or 6th largest industrial city in Mexico, with six 
industrial parks and hundreds of foreign companies.  In 
comparison, Monterrey's 2007 GDP was 54.5 billion USD and its 
FDI in the last two years was over 3 billion USD.  It is no 
wonder then that Barcena described SLP as "like Monterrey in the 
70s." 
 
¶5. (U) A visit to the Cummins factory in SLP illustrated some of 
the reasons for the state capital's growth and potential to 
attract more foreign investment.  Cummins is a U.S. company that 
specializes in manufacturing and repairing diesel engines.  It 
is headquartered in Columbus, OH and has a presence in 160 
countries.  It opened a plant in SLP in 1980 and currently 
employs 1,200 workers.  As described by Miguel Kindler, Director 
of Operations, the Cummins SLP plant is a success story.  It 
appears to have everything it needs in terms of human, 
electrical and water resources. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Despite these positive economic indicators, SLP is not 
necessarily where it should be in terms of economic development. 
 Given all the advantages cited by government officials, SLP 
 
MONTERREY 00000100  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
should be on par with Monterrey, which it sees as its main 
competitor.  Yet, SLP appears to be in a much earlier stage of 
development.  The fact is, even though SLP may be a strategic 
transit point, it cannot compete with Monterrey's proximity to 
the border.  Another drawback is the lack of skilled labor in 
SLP.  An executive of Rockwell recently reported that the 
company had considered opening a plant in SLP but chose 
Monterrey instead.  The reason he gave was that Monterrey has a 
large engineering base sufficient to support a high-tech 
investment, while SLP does not.  The executive also noted that 
SLP might be appropriate for low-tech manufacturing, but when it 
came to high-tech, Monterrey is really the only choice. 
 
Government Downplays Real Issues 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Governor de los Santos, whose six-year term will end in 
summer 2009, reported that 160,000 new jobs have been created 
during his administration and that unemployment will have 
dropped 50% by the end of it.  He stated that "only those who 
don't want to work don't have jobs."  SEDECO's Barcena also 
reported that there are plenty of job opportunities in SLP.  He 
claimed that SLP is growing so fast, faster than expected, that 
"we can't stop it." 
 
¶8. (SBU) Yet, non-government officials painted a less rosy 
picture.  In a roundtable discussion with local media 
representatives, each one cited a shortage of jobs as the number 
one challenge facing SLP.  They noted that although the local 
universities are producing plenty of accountants, lawyers, and 
other traditional professions, these students are often unable 
to find employment within their fields upon graduation.  Only IT 
graduates are exempt from this problem. 
 
¶9. (SBU) The media reps also noted that outside of the capital 
the situation is even worse, and is greatly contributing to 
migration.  One reporter stated that, essentially, most young 
people have two options: migration to Nuevo Leon or to the U.S. 
The issue of migration was down played by government officials. 
Both Governor de los Santos and Barcena cited Zacatecas, 
Michoacan and Durango as states with high migration rates.  They 
never mentioned migration as an issue of concern for San Luis 
Potosi.  Yet, according to figures from the National Population 
Council (CONAPO), SLP is the Mexican state with the 8th highest 
rate of migration to the U.S. 
 
¶10. (SBU) The lack of job opportunities was also noted by Mario 
Garcia Valdez, Rector of Universidad Autonoma San Luis Potosi 
(UASLP).  UASLP is the largest, and only public, university in 
SLP.  There are currently also 40 private universities.  UASLP 
has 17,000 students in the capital and 30,000 throughout the 
state.  Garcia was very frank in stating that the university's 
students have a hard time finding employment upon graduation, 
again with the exception of IT graduates.  He noted that UASLP 
is instead encouraging students to pursue self-employment 
options.  Garcia also pointed out that the division between rich 
and poor is a growing concern.  Specifically, the poor continue 
to have fewer opportunities for education, work and access to 
health care compared to the well-connected.  He did not, 
however, specify ways in which the university or the state 
government are addressing this issue. 
 
Security A Growing Concern 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Security in San Luis Potosi is relatively good, with 
the overall number of reported drug-related executions near the 
lowest for any state in Mexico.  However, there are several 
areas within the state that have seen a recent increase in 
criminal activity, namely the Ciudad Valles area in the eastern 
portion of the state and the capital city of San Luis Potosi. 
It is important to note, however, that the lack of reliable 
reporting of criminal incidents and other security issues makes 
assessing the level of security in the state of San Luis Potosi 
very difficult. 
 
¶12. (SBU) The primary reason for the problems in Ciudad Valles 
is its proximity to the port city of Ciudad Tampico, Tamaulipas 
on the Gulf Coast, which is a major hub for cocaine and weapons 
smuggling and is currently under the control of the Gulf Cartel. 
 Home invasions, robberies and petty crime are on the rise in 
Ciudad Valles, with many of the victims coming from the local 
business community.  The state police explained that when the 
federal government cracks down on the Gulf Cartel in Tampico; 
the cartel members take refuge in Ciudad Valles, only an hour 
drive west.  From Ciudad Valles the next stop heading west is 
 
MONTERREY 00000100  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
the city of San Luis Potosi, and the proximity to Ciudad Valles 
makes it an obvious second choice for cartel members to hide. 
 
¶13. (SBU) The city of San Luis Potosi has also been faced with a 
growth in petty crime as well as narco-violence; however this is 
largely due to its strategic placement on several main transit 
routes (Mex Hwy 57 and 63) which are critical trade corridors 
from central Mexico to the northern border.  As a result of 
increasing international investment and urbanization, the city 
has been growing in population and the police force has not been 
able to keep up with the operational requirements. 
 
¶14. (SBU) The state police force is growing its capabilities, 
but remains very undermanned and lacks training.  There are 
approximately 1,000 state police who are operational on a daily 
basis.  The state police also have a force of 500 federal police 
detailed to them to support operations, a recent and unusual 
occurrence which came about as a result of the connections of 
the new police commissioner. 
 
¶15. (SBU) The majority of the leadership in the state police 
force is new to the state, and was brought in from other states 
under the new police commissioner Cesareo Carvajal.  Carvajal 
was the Director of Public safety for the state of Morelos, and 
is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.  Since his arrival to 
San Luis Potosi, there has been at least one attempt on his 
life, when a supposed cartel assassin shot multiple times into 
what he apparently mistook for Carvajal's vehicle. 
Notwithstanding this, Carvajal remains very proactive in his 
attempts to improve the intelligence and operational 
capabilities of the San Luis Potosi State Police, coordinate the 
development of a 24 hour "911" call-in center, and develop 
databases of intelligence on all incidents and persons of 
interests operating in the state.  Police analysts have also 
begun to monitor major intersections and areas of concern within 
the capital city via closed circuit television, as well as all 
open sources reporting via radio, television and local 
newspapers. Advanced training has been made available to a 
fraction of the state police through the local federal police 
academy, which is a large, well-designed facility. 
 
¶16. (SBU)  Carvajal requested the CG's assistance with securing 
more U.S. government support.  Specifically, he told the CG that 
one of his police force's deficiencies is that with weapons 
seizures his officers do not have the ability to trace the arms. 
 The CG offered to arrange a training with post ATF officials to 
teach SLP officers how to collect the data necessary to begin a 
trace.  Carvajal also expressed an interest in expanding 
cooperation with U.S. law enforcement agencies and emergency 
services, such as the FBI and Los Angeles EMT.  He proposed 
hosting a training conference in SLP for Monterrey, Zacatecas, 
Guadalajara and SLP security forces.  Post is working to respond 
to Carvajal's requests. 
 
¶17. (SBU) While the efforts by the new police commissioner and 
his staff are likely to have an effect in the city of San Luis 
Potosi, outlying areas will likely continue to face major 
problems maintaining security.  Personnel shortages, training 
deficits and corruption will continue to plague the police force 
and have a negative effect on the gains made by the police. 
 
Comment 
------------ 
 
¶18. (SBU) San Luis Potosi is clearly developing economically, 
but continues to face long-standing issues that are difficult to 
address -- such as the socio-economic divide.  In addition, the 
capital city's economic growth has yet to keep pace with the 
number of graduating students, as well as those with lesser 
education of working age, thereby contributing to the elevated 
migration rates.   The SLP government may be addressing these 
issues, but did not specify how or to what extent.  In addition, 
the government's focus appears to be on further developing the 
capital city with little attention being paid to the outlying 
regions and municipalities where these problems are exacerbated. 
 On the other hand, the willingness of security officials to 
take a preemptive and proactive approach to the overall security 
situation within the state could help to enhance SLP as an 
attractive option for both investors and tourists.  Indeed, if 
the level of narco-violence were to escalate in Nuevo Leon, San 
Luis Potosi could potentially become the more attractive option. 
WILLIAMSONB