ID:221688
Date:2009-08-21 03:19:00
09MEXICO2473

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 COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/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 actively 
vets GOM security officials selected for participation in 
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 organized 
crime 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 - 693 
1999 - 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 
 
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 regular 
units. 
 
 
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 reporting 
indicates 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. 
 
 
Vetting and Training Provide Additional Protections 
 
6.  (SBU)  Since 1998, U.S. law requires Leahy human rights 
vetting for any individual participating in U.S.-sponsored 
training.  Post and ODC administers a robust human rights 
vetting program and every Mexican participant in our military 
training program is subject to these legal requirements prior 
to the training event.  By law, we deny training to any 
candidate implicated in a human rights abuse. 
 
 
Raising the Stakes For Soldiers Going Bad 
 
7.  (SBU)  In April 2009, President Calderon proposed a piece 
of legislation that would mandate a 60-year prison sentence 
for any member of the military that deserts and subsequently 
engages in organized crime activity.  Drafters of the 
legislation hope that this bill will discourage soldiers from 
using their military training for criminal purposes.  All 
major political parties agree on the bill's content. 
Adoption of the bill would represent the first time the 
federal government directly mandates a change to the Mexican 
Military Code.  This point may generate some debate when the 
Mexican Congress reconvenes in September and reviews the 
bill. 
 
8.  (S/NOFORN) Comment:  Critics of U.S. military training 
and conspiracy theorists have long speculated that members of 
the notoriously violent cartel Los ZETAS once received 
U.S.-funded special forces training.  Since we cannot know 
the name of every Mexican soldier who has joined Los ZETAS, 
we cannot irrefutably reject this possibility.  However, the 
Embassy checked all available databases and obtained no 
adverse results.  Additional records based on informant 
sources only yielded one case.  Since 1998, the USG has 
vetted every candidate for U.S.-funded military training for 
human rights abuses.  It is impossible to guarantee that 
every Mexican soldier who receives our training in the future 
will not defect to organized crime.  We remain hopeful, 
however, that the passage of harsh legislation instituting a 
60-year sentence for soldiers who become involved in 
organized crime will be a useful deterrent.  End Comment 
 
 
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 / 
 
FEELEY