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FM AMCONSUL MONTERREY
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RUEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
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RUEHMC/AMCONSUL MONTERREY 8931

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MONTERREY 000565 
 
SIPDIS 
 
CONFIDENTIAL: FOREIGN GOVERNMENT INFORMATION 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  12/19/2018 
TAGS: KCRM CASC ASEC SNAR PGOV MX
SUBJECT: AMCIT ANTI-KIDNAPPING EXPERT KIDNAPPED IN COAHUILA STATE 
 
REF: MONTERREY 390 
 
MONTERREY 00000565  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Bruce Williamson, Consul General, Monterrey, 
State. 
REASON: 1.4 (d) 
¶1.   (C )  Summary.  On December 10, Felix Batista, an American 
citizen, disappeared (apparently kidnapped) in Saltillo, 
Coahuila and has remained missing ever since.  Batista is an 
anti-kidnapping expert and had given several anti-kidnapping 
presentations to the business community while in Saltillo.  At 
the time of his abduction, he was apparently working for the 
release of a hostage.  The Consul General, A/Legatt, and RSO 
have met with law enforcement authorities in Coahuila to track 
progress on this case.  Coahuila officials believe that Batista 
was taken by the Zetas, the long time enforcement arm of the 
Gulf Cartel which has now established independent operations 
throughout northeastern Mexico.  A/Legat and other Consulate law 
enforcement agencies are aggressively seeking information which 
might be of use in locating Batista's whereabouts.  However, 
given the ruthless nature of the Zetas, as the days go by we 
grow less optimistic that he will be released unharmed.   End 
Summary. 
 
Basic Facts 
 
¶2.   (SBU)  Batista, a specialist in anti kidnapping issues and 
a former U.S. army major, is responsible for Latin America for 
the ASI Global security consulting group.  Batista traveled to 
Saltillo, a large industrial town an hour to the west of 
Monterrey, for personal reasons, but while there he met the 
Coahuila State Secretary for Public Security Fausto Destenave 
through an introduction by Destenave's sister.  Secretary 
Destenave arranged for Batista to give two presentations on 
anti-kidnapping strategies to Saltillo businessmen.  Pilar 
Valdez, a friend and colleague of Batista and himself the former 
chief of security for one of Saltillo's major industrial firms, 
was kidnapped the morning of December 10, and Batista was 
working to help obtain Valdez's release.  The press and Coahuila 
government officials report that Batista was at a local 
restaurant on December 10 with Valdez's son, when he received a 
call on his cell phone.  Batista left his other cell phone, 
credit card, his laptop, and documents in the restaurant, and 
gave a number for his dinner companions to call if he did not 
return.  Witnesses reported that Batista went outside, was met 
by four men in a vehicle, and without coercion entered into the 
car and has not been seen since.  There has not been any ransom 
demand or communication from the group who took him.  Valdez was 
released an hour after Batista was taken. 
 
Tepid Investigation of a Missing Persons Case 
 
¶3.  ( C)  The Coahuila state Attorney General's office is 
pursuing the matter as a missing person case.  Under Mexican 
law, a kidnapping requires that a ransom demand be made.  A 
lesser crime is a "levanton," which often occurs when drug 
cartels kidnap someone to force them to pay their drug debts or 
abduct a member of a rival drug gang.  However, a levanton 
legally requires that the victim been taken by force.  (In terms 
of seriousness, a levanton is similar to the crime of 
deprivation of liberty in the U.S.)  In this case, since Batista 
reportedly voluntarily entered the car, the attorney general is 
treating the issue as a missing person case, although he assured 
Consulate officials that this has not hindered their 
investigation. 
 
¶4.  (C )  The players in this case and the real motives behind 
the kidnapping are murky. Coahuila officials believe that 
Batista was taken by the Zetas, the long time enforcement arm of 
the Gulf Cartel which has now established independent operations 
throughout northeastern Mexico.  As it appears that the 
kidnappings of Valdez and Batista were related, Valdez may have 
been taken to get to his friend Batista.  One theory is that 
Batista was using Valdez as a conduit to pass information on 
drug cartels to the authorities. 
 
¶5.  (C)  Another theory is that there are two separate 
industries, drug trafficking and kidnapping, and Batista got 
into trouble when he included background information on the 
extent of cartel influence in his anti-kidnapping presentation. 
Coahuila law enforcement officials recovered Batista's power 
point presentation, including detailed slides on the drug cartel 
territory, bosses, and trafficking routes.  Although this 
information was available through public sources, it could have 
been seen as a threat to a cartel.  Less likely, but still 
possible, is that it could be that the Batista abduction was 
intended to send a message to Saltillo civil society - i.e., no 
one is safe from kidnapping and security consultants can't help 
you.  Although Coahuila law enforcement authorities do not see 
Saltillo as a kidnap hotspot, local businessmen clearly feel 
differently.  Indeed, on the evening of December 9, the day 
 
MONTERREY 00000565  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
before the Batista abduction, two prominent Saltillo industrial 
leaders told the Consul General that the security situation 
there was worsening.  Other Saltillo businessmen have previously 
made clear their intention to seek residence in safer cities in 
the U.S.  And while Coahuila Governor Moreira has recently 
request that the national Chamber of Deputies amend the Mexican 
constitution to allow the death penalty for kidnappers, the 
Saltillo press has relished pointing out that the permitting the 
imposition of the death penalty will have little practical 
meaning if the authorities can't apprehend those who commit such 
crimes. 
 
¶6.   (C)  Based on our meetings with both, the distrust and lack 
of communication between the State Secretary of Public Security 
Destenave and state attorney general Jesus Torres Charles is 
striking and does not bode well for a positive resolution of the 
case.  Post officials first met with Secretary Destenave, who 
showed several restaurant security videotapes of Batista both 
inside and outside the premises, As under Mexican law 
Destenave's office has no responsibility for investigating the 
crime, he asked Consulate officers to press Attorney General 
Torres on certain evidentiary issues. The two offices apparently 
distrust each other and do not communicate.  In contrast, the 
attorney general's office, which has actual responsibility for 
investigating the crime, provided us with a slim file folder 
summarizing evidence, although it did promise later access to 
all the evidence - except for key informal statements made by 
kidnap victim Pilar Valdez.  According to Torres, Valdez remains 
fearful and naming him as a witness could put his life in 
danger. 
 
¶7.  (C)  The attorney general's office assured us that they 
would continue to investigate the case, but our reading is that 
most likely they would do little more.    Most levantones are 
never solved and in this case, the drug cartels have likely made 
clear to Torres that that is the preferred result here as well. 
Torres pointedly observed that the license plates on the vehicle 
which Batista entered were from another car so that his office's 
ability to track that vehicle is minimal.  Post officials have 
enjoyed much better cooperation with the Secretary of Public 
Security, although it could well be that he sees this as a 
chance put pressure on his bureaucratic rival. 
 
Prognosis for Batista's release 
 
 ¶8.  (C )  Batista has now been missing for more than a week, 
and each day that he is held captive reduces the chances that he 
will be released.  While there were rumors that he would be 
released shortly after his abduction and later rumors that he 
would be freed over the December 13-14 weekend, this has not 
occurred and Charles now does not think that it will.  Nor have 
Batista's captors made any ransom demands.  In many levanton 
cases, the cartels kill the victim, destroy the body in an acid 
bath or dispose of it in the enormous desert.  We have little 
confidence that the Coahuila's attorney general's office will 
aggressively pursue the case.  Indeed, attorney general Torres 
appears to be the source of innumerable leaks in this case which 
have fueled press stories not only in the leading Monterrey 
daily "El Norte" but in the New York Times, Washington Post, and 
CNN as well. 
 
¶9.  (C)    Nevertheless, A/Legat and other Consulate law 
enforcement agencies are aggressively seeking information which 
might be of use in locating Batista's whereabouts. 
Specifically, in an attempt to recover Batista, or his remains, 
Consulate Monterrey law enforcement agencies will proceed 
expeditiously to provide Mexican federal counterparts with intel 
packages regarding properties owned and/or operated by the Zetas 
in Coahuila for host government law enforcement action.  In 
addition, the A/Legatt will continue to pursue all avenues to 
obtain access to Pilar Valdez for an interview on the 
circumstances surrounding his abduction and release, presumably 
the same subjects responsible for Batista's disappearance. 
 
¶10.  (C)  Comment.  Although many facts of the Batista case are 
unclear, it is clear that the state authorities are 
institutionally dysfunctional.  It is not clear if this case 
will affect the safety of the typical American businessman 
traveling to Saltillo, but the rules of the game - i.e., 
hands-off Amcits -- do appear to have changed as the kidnappers 
targeted Batista despite likely knowing that he was an American 
citizen.   End Comment. 
WILLIAMSONB