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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MEXICO 002681 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV SNAR KCRM MX
SUBJECT: UNDER PRESSURE, CALDERON TALKS OF POLICE SHAKEUPS 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary:  Reacting to growing public and political 
pressure to achieve results in the fight against organized 
crime and violence in Mexico, President Calderon signaled 
that the removal of a senior Public Security official was 
part of a stepped up effort to revitalize the leadership of 
national law enforcement and take on the fight "with greater 
determination."  In comments to reporters, however, Calderon 
was careful to give no indication of a shakeup of senior law 
enforcement or cabinet officials.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U)  Since Saturday's series of public marches in Mexican 
cities which drew tens of thousands out in protest to demand 
better results (Septel), recent days have seen setbacks for 
the president in terms of public optics over the issue of 
crime.  Beginning to distance themselves from the government 
in the advent of next year's legislative elections, senior 
PRI legislators, including Senate leader Manlio Fabio 
Beltrones and Chamber leader Emilio Gamboa, sharpened their 
criticism of Calderon's overall approach, chiding him for 
poor management of his security cabinet and saying they would 
call both the Attorney General (PGR) and Public Security 
Secretary (SSP) to address Mexico's congress to give an 
account of their activities. 
 
¶3.  (U) A poll released on September 1 by the daily Reforma 
showed that support for Calderon's handling of 
counter-narcotics and security issues had slipped during the 
last six months, with 48 percent of those surveyed expressing 
unfavorable views of his handling of the war against the 
cartels in late August -- up from 36 percent saying they 
believed he was doing a poor job in March.  Disapproval of 
his handling of public security in general jumped from 36 
percent to 45 percent during the same period. 
 
¶4.  (U) Calderon's annual report to congress (for the first 
time hand-delivered by his Secretary of Government instead of 
read aloud by the president) did little to give him the 
public affairs edge.  Media criticized the document for its 
lack of specificity with regards to violence.   Mexico City 
daily El Excelsior, for example, claimed that the document 
had downplayed narco-violence by ignoring the nearly 3000 
Mexicans killed in narco-violence this year, including close 
to 400 military and police officials.  The same day of the 
report, a high profile NGO, the Public Security Citizens 
Council, complained that the 75-point agreement reached in 
August by Mexico's executive branch, the legislature and 
state government representatives contained few concrete goals 
for curbing kidnappings in Mexico -- which have once again 
become the focus of much public angst here -- and called on 
the government to eradicate the crime within four years. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Calderon leaned forward to respond. On Tuesday he 
confirmed the replacement of Roberto Campa, director of the 
National Public Security System with Ricardo Marquez Blas, 
the section's operations manager.  Saying that he was taking 
on the "re-vitalization" of Mexico's public security 
institutions, Calderon would not rule out further personnel 
changes within law enforcement institutions, but said a 
cabinet shuffle was not in the offing at this point.  He gave 
no indication that SSP head Garcia Luna, with whom there has 
been a fair amount of frustration among other senior law 
enforcement and security officials, was vulnerable. 
 
¶6. (U) The president, however, said he was aware of reports 
of poor coordination between PGR and SSP and said that he had 
instructed his two senior law enforcement officials to do a 
better job communicating and coordinating with each other. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Campa's departure from National Public Security was 
probably an idea whose idea had come, say mission law 
enforcement specialists.   The job entailed coordinating the 
federal government's effort to establish uniform standards 
among Mexico's many state and local police entities and bring 
local cops into four regional training centers.   According 
to many law enforcement contacts, the effort has been 
under-funded and anemic since its inception.   In particular, 
military leaders, who have had to deploy their forces to plug 
the breach, have criticized the institution for its failure 
to sharpen police skills. 
 
¶8.  (U) A 2006 presidential candidate for a small political 
party, the New Alliance, Campa was considered by many to have 
been a politically motivated pick for the job.  "He has no 
public security experience, strategy or policy," one UNAM 
crime specialist told reporters.  His successor, Roberto 
Marquez, has longstanding law enforcement credentials, having 
held positions within SSP for the bulk of his career. 
Politicians from both the PAN and opposition parties said 
they hoped the change would have a salutary effect on 
coordination between federal, state and local law 
enforcement. 
 
 
MEXICO 00002681  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  Comment:  Clearly under pressure to show results, 
Calderon has begun by underscoring ongoing efforts to improve 
leadership and management of the nation's top law enforcement 
institutions.  Campa was ripe for replacement, and Calderon 
hinted that there would be more to come.  As July's shakeup 
within PGR indicated, senior police officials are under 
pressure to sideline bad or ineffectual law enforcement 
officials, and we can expect more resignations in coming 
weeks.  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 / 
GARZA