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Cable sobre los militares mexicanos entrenados en EU

ID:221688

Date:2009-08-21 03:19:00

Origin:09MEXICO2473

Source:Embassy MexicoClassification:SECRET//NOFORN

Dunno: Destination:VZCZCXRO7753

RR RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD

RUEHRS RUEHTM

DE RUEHME #2473/01 2330319

ZNY SSSSS ZZH

R 210319Z AUG 09

FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO

TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7982

INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVERHMFISS/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC

RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC

RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC

RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC

RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL

RHMFISS/HQ USNORTHCOM

RUEAHLA/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHINGTON DC

RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 MEXICO 002473

NOFORN

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/21/2017

TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PHUM, KCRM, PINR, SNAR, MX

SUBJECT: SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON ZETAS AND U.S.

MILITARY TRAINING

Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Charles Barclay for reasons

1.4 (b) and (d)

1. (S/NOFORN) Summary: Since 1996, U.S. Embassy Mexico

City has maintained an electronic database of all Mexican

military trained with U.S. funds. These records show that the

USG has trained nearly of 5,000 Mexican military personnel,

including members of Mexico's Special Forces (GAFEs).

Several prominent members of the Mexican cartel Los ZETAS,

notorious for violent attacks, previously served in the

Mexican military's special forces units. Rumors have long

circulated suggesting that U.S.-trained members of the

Mexican military have become ZETAS. The Embassy activelyvets GOM security officials selected for participation in

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U.S.-funded training programs for involvement in human rights

abuses or other criminal activities. The U.S. also sponsors

training activities, exercises, and exchanges that promote

human rights within the Mexican military. Separately, the

Mexican Government has proposed legislation to increase the

penalty for GOM military personnel implicated in organizedcrime activities. The Embassy conducted an extensive

cross-check of our database of Mexican military officials who

participated in U.S.-funded training programs against lists

of known members of Los ZETAS. The comparison of databases

did not produce any hits. However, intelligence from other

sources yielded the name of one individual was reportedly

trained by U.S. forces, retired from the Mexican Military,

was forcibly recruited into Los ZETAS, and was later

implicated in a plan to assassinate former Mexican Deputy

Attorney General Jose Luis Vasconceles. End Summary.

The Raw Data

2. (SBU) Since 1996, the Embassy's Office of Defense

Coordination (ODC) has maintained an electronic database of

all Mexican military personnel that receive U.S.-funded

military training. The database categorizes the individuals

by military organization -- SEDENA or SEMAR -- as well as by

the type of training they receive. The numbers below show

Mexican military members trained in the U.S. and Mexico. The

training in Mexico by U.S. personnel involves subject matter

exchanges, seminars, conferences, and mobile training teams.

The training conducted in the U.S. normally is

individual-level training, although some tactical-level

training includes special forces training. According to

ODC's database, since 1996 the U.S. has trained the following

number of Mexican military personnel.

1996 - 440

1997 - 236

1998 - 6931999 - 1271

2000 - 282

2002 - 225

2003 - 207

2004 - 162

2005 - 185

2006 - 184

2008 - 177

2009 - 517 (to be completed by end of FY 09)

Total: 4952

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3. (C) From 1996-1998, the U.S. provided unit-specific

training to 422 GAFEs. After 1998, the U.S. military

discontinued unit level training programs, including GAFE

training, to concentrate on specialized individual military

training. It is possible that the U.S. provided training to

individual GAFEs who participated as members of regularunits.

Cross-checking and Validating

4. (C) The Embassy's DEA office maintains a database of all

ZETAS who have been arrested, killed, or otherwise

identified. The database relies on a variety of sources

including the GOM, informants, and press accounts. Los ZETAS

is a criminal organization that guards the identity of its

members. We cannot know the names of every one of its

MEXICO 00002473 002 OF 002

members. Nevertheless, we have cross-checked the names of

the nearly 5,000 Mexican military personnel that we have

trained since 1996 against the list of known ZETA members

that the DEA compiles and have not found a match. (Note:

Prior to 1996, only hard copies of military orders exist. A

review of these files suggests they are incomplete. Where

paper files exist, we cross checked those names against the

DEA's list and found no matches. End Note.)

5. (S/NOFORN) Separate sensitive collateral reporting

indicates that Rogelio Lopez Villafana, a former Mexican

infantry lieutenant who retired from the Mexican elite

special forces, was forcibly recruited into Los ZETAS. Lopez

was later arrested and implicated in a plan to assassinate

the former Deputy Attorney General for Legal and

International Affairs, Jose Luis Santiago Vasconceles, in

January 2008. The same sensitive collateral reportingindicates that Lopez received counter-narcotics operations

training at Fort Bragg, but the records do not include the

specific date. In response to Embassy queries, Fort Bragg

advised us that it could not recover any record on this

individual. Fort Bragg noted that its electronic training

records only date back to 1996. The Mexican Army (SEDENA)

reported to the Embassy that Lopez retired in July 2007 after

completing 20 years and 8 months of service in the Mexican

Army. As a result, he could have trained in the U.S. prior

to the inception of the ODC and Fort Bragg electronic

databases.

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