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INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MEXICO 003443 
 
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SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PINR SNAR KCRM MX
SUBJECT: DEPSEC LEW STRESSES USG COMMITMENT TO COOPERATION 
 
¶1. (U)  Summary.  Deputy Secretary Lew uQ his visit to 
Mexico November 22-24 to stress to the GOM and 
Mexican civil society the USGQs commitment to Mexico 
as it takes on organized crime and builds stronger 
law enforcement institutions.  Lew underscored the 
importance of observing human rights as central to 
the agenda of countering organized crime.  GOM 
officials welcomed strong cooperation with the U.S. 
in this endeavor, acknowledging the need to expand 
efforts on the local level and strengthen 
intelligence capabilities.  Mexican civil society 
leaders believe Mexico can only claim success if 
Mexican civil society embraces more fully a Qculture 
of lawfulnessQ and the attendant responsibility 
entailed with holding government leaders and 
institutions accountable.   The Deputy SecretaryQs 
visit to the airport offered him an opportunity to 
observe how the GOM is putting some of our inspection 
technology to good use in detecting narcotics, 
laundered currency, and other contraband.  The 
Mexican press reported favorably on the visit 
focusing on assurances that U.S. cooperation would 
continue.   Embassy Staff appreciated LewQs 
engagement in a town hall event and exchanges on the 
QDDR.  End Summary. 
 
 
Agreement on Way Ahead on Cooperation 
 
¶2.  (U)  The Deputy Secretary used his meeting with 
leading members of MexicoQs law enforcement 
community, its functional equivalent of the 
DeputyQs committee, to recognize the sacrifices 
Mexico has made in battling organized crime and to 
convey our determination to provide Mexico with the 
assistance it needs to be successful.  The U.S. is 
committed to doing its part by attacking drug demand 
in the U.S. and devoting more resources to halting 
the flow of weapons south.  It is vital that we 
produce results on our shared investment and be 
prepared to adapt our approach if the desired results 
are lacking.  Our shared commitment of tying 
cooperation to clearly defined needs and shared 
objectives may have contributed to some delays in 
delivering assistance, but it was time well spent. 
High ticket items such as inspection equipment are 
either coming on line or will be arriving shortly. 
We attach great importance to developing a pilot 
program in Ciudad Juarez that provides the military 
with the support it needs, builds up the capacity of 
the state and local police, and promotes greater 
overall coordination.  Meanwhile, we look forward to 
our cooperation transitioning from the present focus 
on hardware into the more complicated phase of 
institution building. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Deputy Secretary of the Interior Ministry, 
Geronimo Gutierrez, assured the Deputy Secretary that 
combating organized crime remains President 
CalderonQs highest priority.  Calderon receives 
weekly briefing on the security situation, including 
updates on the status of U.S. assistance.  He 
acknowledged the governmentQs cQlenge in producing 
definitive evidence of success as violence continues 
to rise. He remarked that building strong 
institutions may prove even more difficult but agreed 
it was just as important as disrupting the activities 
of the drug cartels.   The U.S. and Mexico must speak 
 publicly from the same script; he suggested 
our two governments work together in producing a 
joint report on an issue tied to our efforts to 
combat organized crime. In a similar vein, the 
Director of MexicoQs intelligence agency, CISEN, 
spoke to the need for greater GOM-USG cooperation on 
intelligence. 
 
Human Rights and Combatting Crime Must Go Together 
 
¶4.   (SBU)  In all of his meetings, Lew stressed the need to 
build respect for human rights and adherence to the 
rule of law in connection to all efforts to combat 
organized crime.  Foreign Minister Espinosa commented 
that this is also President CalderonQs position.  She 
had personally engaged with Defense Minister Galvan 
Galvan to underscore the need for transparency in the 
handling of alleged human rights abuses.  In a 
meeting with Deputy Secretaries from all major 
Mexican security agencies, including Defense, Lew 
stressed that human rights are not a side concern, 
but are central to President ObamaQs agenda.  He said 
that for both the Administration and Congress, 
adherence to human rights is critical to securing 
 
MEXICO 00003443  002 OF 003 
 
 
funding for our counternarcotics agenda. 
 
¶5.   (SBu)  In meetings with both Foreign Minister Espinosa 
and inner-agency law enforcement officials, Foreign 
Affairs Deputy Secretary Julian Ventura and 
Ambassador Pascual reviewed progress made toward 
developing a structured bilateral human rights 
dialogue.  Draft diplomatic notes have been exchanged 
for comments.  There is agreement to include the 
Army, Navy, Foreign Affairs, the Interior 
Ministry and other key players.  The structured dialogue 
will help ensure that the focus is on transparency and 
accountability.  The GOM discussed these measures openly in 
an interagency context, reflecting a positive shift 
toward incorporating human rights into our bilateral 
agenda. 
 
 
Fighting Crime with Development 
 
¶6.   (U)  Deputy Secretary of the Social Development 
Ministry (SEDESOL) Gustavo 
Merino Juarez and SEDESOL Chief of Staff Ignacio 
Quesada spoke to the contribution SEDESOL was making 
to the governmentQs efforts to combat organized 
crime.  The governmentQs program Oportunidades 
(Opportunities) had already developed programs Q each 
with a health, education, and food component -- that 
had helped over 5.2 million families.  The ministry 
aimed to cover 850,000 more families.  Projects 
extended across a wide gamut to include scholarships 
for underprivileged children to housing for 
impoverished communities.  Borrowing extensively from 
ColombiaQs efforts with communities at risk in 
Medellin, Mexico sought similarly to target youth at 
risk in Ciudad Juarez by building roads, schools, and 
parks in impoverished communities facing high rates 
of crime and violence. 
 
 
Community Leaders Accept Responsibility 
 
¶7.   (U)  Leaders of civil society organizations devoted 
to fighting crime, with a particular focus on 
kidnapping based on some compelling personal 
experiences, offered the Deputy Secretary their frank 
assessment of the ills that plague Mexican society 
and their take on a way ahead.  They conveyed 
frustration that Mexico had not more fully embraced 
the accoutrements of a developed democracy with the 
political transition that had commenced under 
President Fox but conceded much of the blame lay with 
them.  Civil society needed to hold its leaders 
accountable for delivering on their promises.  It 
also needed to attach greater importance to promoting 
a culture of lawfulness and building alliances with 
law enforcement.  They welcomed greater cooperation 
between the USG and the GOM to the extent it 
contributed to longer term solutions including 
stronger institutions.  However, they also urged the 
U.S. to do more to tackle some of its own challenges 
including drug demand and arms smuggling. 
 
 
Airport Visit Places Spotlight on Hardware 
 
¶8.    (SBU)  The Deputy Secretary wrapped up his trip to 
Mexico City with a visit to the Mexican Customs 
cargo facilities at Mexico City International Airport 
where he received a briefing on several types of Non- 
Intrusive Inspection Equipment (NIIE) the USG seeks 
to deliver to the GOM under the Merida Initiative. 
After learning about a Pallet VACIS (Vehicle and 
Cargo Inspection System), a cobalt-sourced gamma 
radiation unit used for inspecting commercial cargo 
pallets, the Deputy Secretary rode in a ZBV X-Ray 
Backscatter Van and viewed real-time X-Ray images as 
the vehicle inspected a line of loaded commercial air 
cargo carriers.  These vans which inspect the 
contents of commercial buses and light commercial and 
private vehicles for recently-fired weapons, 
explosives, drugs, chemicals, radioactive material, 
and laundered money are mobile, offering the GOM a 
means to thwart traffickers attempting to circumvent 
fixed inspection points.  The Deputy Secretary also 
viewed an X-Ray minivan which officials use to 
inspect airport passenger luggage. Under the Merida 
Initiative, the Mexican federal police have ordered 
10 of these minivans to inspect the contents of 
commercial bus passenger luggage and other small- 
container commercial and private cargo along the 
nationQs highways.  Mexican airport officials 
 
MEXICO 00003443  003 OF 003 
 
 
concluded their presentation with a slide show of 
multi-million dollar contraband seizures they have 
made using NIIE. 
 
 
Press Stresses USG Commitment to Continued 
Cooperation 
 
¶9.   (U)  The Deputy Secretary participated in a round 
table discussion with journalists and an exclusive 
interview with MexicoQs premier television network, 
Televisa, in the course of his visit to Mexico.  He 
was quoted extensively in all major newspapers, 
radio, wire services, and Internet media outlets on 
11/24, commenting on the Merida Initiative and the 
way forward, human rights in Mexico, institutional 
reform, and cooperation against narco-trafficking, 
among other topics.  Much of the Mexican press 
focused on his assurances that that the U.S. remain 
committed to continued cooperation with Mexico in its 
efforts to combat organized crime.  He affirmed that 
he had raised the subject of human rights in his 
meetings largely in the context of building the kinds 
of institutions Mexico needs to promote respect for 
the rule of law.  Press on the visit was overwhelming 
positive and generally accurate drawing helpful 
attention to the constructive nature of U.S. 
cooperation with Mexico in fighting organized crime 
and building stronger institutions, while reporting 
frankly on the DeputyQs open yet respectful handling 
of human rights issues. 
 
¶10.  (SBU)  Comment.  The Deputy SecretaryQs visit 
provided a timely boost to a complicated agenda with 
Mexico.  His intense exchange with Foreign Minister 
Espinosa reinforced the breath of the relationship 
from Honduras to security to human rights to the 
resources we need to succeed.  In effect, by 
convening a defacto DeputyQs committee with the 
Mexicans, Lew also underscored that we have a fluid 
and high level common agenda between the U.S. and 
Mexico.  The same issues are now of central concern 
to both countries. One Mexican Deputy Minister 
commented later that Lew reinforced that our agenda 
is shared, but this means Mexico has to carry out its 
responsibilities.  When you see the commitment of 
your partners, it reinforces the fact that you too 
must act.  That message conveyed by Lew verbally and 
by example, continues to reinforce an intense pattern 
of engagement with our Mexican security and foreign 
affairs colleagues.  End Comment. 
 
PASCUAL