VZCZCXRO4079
RR RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHME #3282/01 3102249
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 052249Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3865
INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MEXICO 003282 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON SMIG KCRM PHUM MX
SUBJECT: QUERETARO BOASTS PROSPERITY, COMBATS INTOLERANCE 
 
¶1.  Summary.  The state of Queretaro located some 160 km 
northwest of Mexico City boasts a pleasant climate, a rich 
historical tradition, and a growing economy.  The state's 
governor proudly told visiting Deputy PolCouns that Queretaro 
typically grew several points above the Mexican national 
average attributing much of the state's economic success to 
his efforts to attract new investment in the aeronautic 
sector.  Of course, the state's wealth favors the young and 
educated, prompting more marginalized segments of the 
population to migrate to the U.S. in large numbers.  Several 
civil society representatives complained that the state's 
engrained conservative traditions have fostered intolerance 
of groups considered out of the mainstream or undesirable. 
Given Queretaro's conservative reputation, PAN looks to 
retain its foothold in the state in the upcoming 2009 
elections.  End Summary. 
 
Tapping into the World of Aviation 
 
¶2.  Queretaro Governor Francisco Garrido Patron boasted that 
his state's economy regularly outgrew the rest of Mexico by 
1-2 percentage points.  He attributed much of the state's 
success to his efforts to attract new investment, 
particularly by Canada, in the aeronautic sector.  The state 
had founded a university geared towards training engineers 
and other specialists who would go into this field.  He also 
believed the creation of an international airport had proven 
a draw for international firms. 
 
Those Who Can't Build Planes Walk North 
 
¶3.  Jose Gonzalez Ruiz, a local Deputy to the Queretaro State 
Congress, spoke of his humble origins as a small time farmer. 
 PAN had effectively made progress into gaining the support 
of this population segment, which traditionally favors PRI, 
by building roads, hospitals, and schools in long-neglected 
communities.  Nevertheless, many of these communities 
remained marginalized, lacking decent job opportunities. 
Notwithstanding the capital's prosperity, many rural 
communities had lost upwards of 25 percent of their 
population to migration to the U.S.  Gonzalez Ruiz said that 
he often found himself attempting to accommodate requests for 
financial assistance from local residents seeking to bring 
back the remains of their deceased relatives from the U.S. 
 
Fighting Intolerance 
 
¶4.  Bernardo Romero, a philosophy teacher at la Universidad 
Autonoma de Queretaro described the state as a bastion of 
social and political conservatism.  He had been disturbed by 
an organized attack earlier in the year on emos -- adolescent 
youth characterized by long straight black hair that they 
wear off to the side and tight jeans and t-shirts who are 
fans of punk music and celebrate their emotional 
expressiveness -- by large numbers of the state's youth.  The 
police mostly watched as the emos came under harsh verbal 
attacks and some physical abuse.  Romero was gratified when 
capital residents held a relatively large demonstration 
several days later promoting tolerance.  However, he argued 
against the facile conclusion that the state had overcome its 
tendency toward intolerance.  Instead, he described state 
government efforts to "transplant" poor, indigenous street 
merchants from center city squares to the city's margins.  He 
also maintained that the state's courts favored the rich with 
the police often constrained from investigating reports of 
domestic violence when women would decide to withdraw their 
complaints.  According to Romero, the Catholic Church 
remained one of the most influential institutions in the 
state and demonstrated a clear bias in favor of PAN given its 
conservative credentials. 
 
Spared Narco-Violence 
 
¶5.  Public Security Secretary Jose Manuel Oganda Perez 
described how Queretaro's capital which goes by the same name 
had grown from some 100,000 27 years ago to over one million 
today.  He was generally pleased with law enforcement 
cooperation among state and municipal police.  He cited 
migrants who often engage in criminal activity upon returning 
from the U.S. as one of his major concerns.  State Attorney 
General Juan Martin Granados Torres was similarly thankful 
the state had largely been spared the violence affecting 
other states remarking there had been only five narco-related 
killings over the last four years.  Some commentators, 
however, suggested cartel leaders take advantage of 
Queretaro's peaceful reputation by sending their families 
there to live in relative obscurity.  Both Oganda Perez and 
Monica Gonzalez Pasillas, a senior representative from the 
state's Human Rights Commission, spoke of the commission's 
efforts to provide the police with human rights training. 
 
¶6.  Comment.  Queretaro boasts a mild climate, a proud 
historic tradition dating back to Mexico's war of 
 
MEXICO 00003282  002 OF 002 
 
 
independence, relative tranquillity and an economy that 
aspires to be modern.  However, some commentators worry the 
capital's clean and prosperous veneer obscures a variety of 
social and economic ills including intolerance of outsiders 
and neglect of rural communities.  PAN enjoys the support of 
the Catholic Church and the state's moneyed class suggesting 
it should fare well in the 2009 elections. 
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