VZCZCXRO3764
RR RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHME #3162 2981846
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 241846Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
INFO RUEAHLA/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
RHMFISS/CDR USNORTHCOM
RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC

C O N F I D E N T I A L MEXICO 003162 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/24/2018 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM SNAR KCRM MX
SUBJECT: CALDERON ANNOUNCES NEW SECURITY ADVISOR 
 Classified By: Classified by Charles V. Barclay, Political Counselor fo 
r reasons 1.4 (b) (d) 
 
 1.(SBU) Even before the October 20 announcement that 
President Calderon had appointed Jorge E. Tello Peon as a new 
national security advisor in charge of improving coordination 
between federal law enforcement elements the new appointee 
had already met with various institutions to develop a 
strategic plan to address Mexico's organized crime problems. 
According to embassy law enforcement contacts, the main 
objectives of the plan aim to: 
 
--increase coordination and information-sharing among GOM LE 
entities; Tello has ordered each agency to name a 
representative to work on a strategic plan with him. 
 
-- reinvigorate existing plans to address Mexico's southern 
border with Guatemala, including beefing up SEDENA check 
points on main roads leading up the Isthmus of Tehuantepec 
and boosting active marine patrols along the Gulf and Pacific 
coasts. 
 
--further enhance the working relationship with banking 
institutions in Mexico to address the money flow generated 
and facilitated by organized crime groups. 
 
--increase cooperation with USG LE agencies on reducing 
illegal arms flows into Mexico. 
 
¶2. (C) According to Mexican security analyst Jorge Chabat, 
Tello is well-respected in Mexico's LE community and was 
Calderon's initial pick for SSP Secretary.  Chabat said Tello 
turned the position down because he had cancer at the time 
and preferred to be in Monterrey with his family (working as 
head of CEMEX's security).  Chabat is uncertain how Tello's 
new role will differ from Sigrid Artz's position, currently 
Technical Secretary of the National Security Council, and he 
anticipates overlaps.  He also expects that, at least 
initially, the new position will cause some "noise" or 
inter-group power conflicts within the GOM rather than 
resolve them.  Separately, a high-level CISEN official told 
LE emboff that Sigrid Artz would still have overall 
coordinating role of the Security Council. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Tello has served as Director of the Center of 
Investigation and National Security (CISEN), Commissioner for 
the National Institute to Combat Drugs for the Attorney 
General's Office (PGR) and Undersecretary of Government 
(SEGOB).  Tello was an SSP Undersecretary under Zedillo's 
Administration, in charge of all Mexican federal prisons, and 
remained in place into the early Fox administration. 
President Fox removed and replaced him after the embarrassing 
escape of Chapo Guzman from Puente Grande Prison. 
 
¶4. (C) Several reports indicate that Tello is an old Genaro 
Garcia Luna associate and one of the architects of the 
Federal Preventive Police (PFP) as that agency was 
developing.  (Note: At that time it was widely believed that 
eventually the PFP would become the enforcement/investigative 
arm of the PGR. End note.) DEA reports that they have no 
derogatory information on Tello. 
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