VZCZCXRO4585
RR RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHM RUEHHO RUEHJO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHPOD
RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHME #6033/01 3391947
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051947Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9783
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RUEHXI/LABOR COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHINGTON DC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MEXICO 006033
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR INC/C (BROWN/CORDOVA), DRL/AWH AND ILCSR, WHA/MEX
FOR DDARRACH, AND DOL FOR ILAB
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB SNAR ECON PGOV PINR SOCI MX
SUBJECT: UNION DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION INITIATIVE EXPANDS TO
HERMOSILLO
REF: (A) MEXICO 4114 (B) MEXICO 5367
1. SUMMARY: In early November AmConsul Hermosillo and
Embassy Mexico City,s Labor Counselor met with officials
from the CTM, Mexico,s largest labor federation, and with
various levels of GOM and NGO officials to discuss the
problem of drug abuse in the workplace. This initiative,
which is the outgrowth of talks between Mission Labor
Counselor and the CTM on potential areas of increased
cooperation between the union and the USG, began in mid-2007.
At that time AmConsul Matamoros enthusiastically embraced
the idea of hosting a meeting to discuss ways to prevent drug
abuse in the workplace as a way to further promote the
commitment made by Presidents Bush and Calderon in March 2007
to increase US/Mexico border cooperation. A first meeting on
the topic was ultimately held at AmConsul Matamoros, offices
in July and since then follow-up meetings have occurred in
both Matamoros and Mexico City. This initial meeting in
Hermosillo was more widely attended than the first similar
meeting in Matamoros and, perhaps as a consequence, was much
more cautious in setting goals and objectives. The
participants at the Hermosillo meeting were very concerned
about the sustainability of any actions the group might
jointly decide to take. A great deal of discussion was
devolved to the severity and consequences of the problem of
drug abuse in Hermosillo area to an assessment of what the
group could realistically do to address this situation. At
the conclusion of these discussions the group agreed to take
the concerns raised to their respective home offices and then
to meet again on December 6. END SUMMARY.
AMCONSUL HERMOSILLO JOINS DISCUSSION ON PROBLEMS OF DRUG ABUSE
--------------------------------------------- -----------------
2. On November 6, AmConsul Hermosillo effectively joined the
effort which began this past July in Matamoros to work
together with the CTM, Mexico,s largest labor federation, to
attempt to address the problems of drug abuse in the
workplace. This initiative of joint USG and union
cooperation began in July of 2007 when AmConsul Matamoros
hosted an exploratory meeting (REF A) to discuss the severity
of the problem and possible common actions to help deal with
this situation. As a result of that first meeting in
Matamoros the consulate there has begun working with the
union and the area,s business community to develop
strategies that would draw primarily on local resources.
3. This initial meeting in Hermosillo was much different
than the first similar meeting in Matamoros in that it was
more widely attended. A broad range of Mexican government
officials attended the Hermosillo meeting from both the
federal and state level as well as representatives from NGOs
and specialized agencies with experience in dealing with the
problems of drug abuse. The USG was represented at this
meeting by AmConsul Hermosillo,s Principal officer, its
Labor Watcher and Mission Mexico,s Labor Counselor. The
most senior GOM official present appeared to be a
representative from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE).
4. The some of the participants at the November 6 meeting
were as follows:
Representative from Sonora office of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (SRE);
Representatives from Director of the Public Security
Secretariat,s (SSP) Crime Prevention Office;
SIPDIS
Representatives from Sonora office of Secretariat of Labor
(STPS);
Representatives from the Director General of the Center for
Youth Integration (CIJ, a parastatal agency affiliated with
the Secretariat of Health);
Representatives from Secretariat of Health (SS);
Deputy Secretary General, CTM Sonora;
Representatives from the CTM,s National HQ;
NO INTEREST IN A PHOTO OP
-------------------------
MEXICO 00006033 002 OF 003
5. From the very start of the Hermosillo meeting its
participants made clear that they were not interested in
becoming involved in an exercise that would amount to little
more than a photo opportunity. This sentiment was first
stated by the deputy head of the CTM,s Hermosillo, Sonora
office and then quickly echoed by others in attendance. The
meeting then began to touch on the severity of the problems
in Mexico,s northwestern state of Sonora and the difficulty
of taking on an initiative to combat this dilemma that would
be truly sustainable. Considerable discussion was devoted to
the complexity of helping people who are already drug abuser
and to the impact of drug abuse on family members who are not
drug users and on the broader community.
6. When the meeting turned to possible concrete first steps
the discussion focused on such things as the pros and cons of
different types of treatment as opposed prevention
strategies. The CTM representative from the union,s national
office in Mexico City spoke at length about resources and
commitments the union had already obtained to devote the drug
prevention initiative. The SRE representative voiced her
agency,s general support for the goals of the overall
initiative but made clear that at this point, despite being
perhaps the most senior GOM federal official at the meeting,
her purpose in attending was to record the details of the
discussion and then relay them to higher level SRE officials
in Mexico City.
7. Later in the meeting AmConsul Hermosillo,s PO drew on
his experiences serving at posts in EAP to help guide the
discussion with regard to actions that produce desired
results and those that sound nice but are often less than
effective. He noted that he had personally seen how
methamphetamines were rapidly and severely addictive, and
caused largely irreversible mental damage and violent
behavior. Methamphetamine use appeared to be on the rise in
Sonora and Sinaloa, states within the Hermosillo consular
district, because narco-traffickers were using it to pay off
small couriers, who began to sell it locally. School
children were being targeted and street crime and home break
-ns appeared to be increasing as a consequence. The growth
of this part of Mexico as a methamphetamine market, not
simply a transit point, was occurring in an environment of
deep ignorance about the drug itself. Even local law
enforcement appeared to have trouble identifying the drug and
seemed unaware of its dangers. Better education about
methamphetamines was urgently needed throughout society, and
could be especially effective in the workplace.
8. This was then followed up by a presentation/summary of a
tentative agreement reached after a meeting in Mexico City
(REF B) to adopt a how-to manual developed by Mexico,s
National Institute of Psychiatry (INP) as the focus of
efforts to combat workplace drug abuse. The INP manual,
entitled Alcohol and Drugs in the Workplace: A Manual for
Prevention provides step-by-step instructions for developing
a drug abuse prevention program. As in the discussions in
Mexico City the goal of this part of the meeting was to
accept the INP manual as a common guide for all actors
interested in addressing the problem of drug abuse in the
workplace so that everyone involved would be starting from
the same place and following a shared plan of action.
WE NEED TO DISCUSS THIS WITH HQ
-------------------------------
9. One of the major points that became clear be the end of
the Hermosillo meeting was the complexity of developing a
sustainable program that could successfully address the
difficulties drug abuse in general and in the workplace in
particular. All of the participants of the Hermosillo
meeting expressed their support for the initiative but most
(of the federal GOM officials at least) felt that it was
necessary to relate the details of gathering,s discussion to
their respective head quarters before committing themselves
to any next steps. Consequently, it was agreed that all of
the participants should be given an opportunity to review the
details of the meeting with their head offices and that a
follow up meeting would be held in Hermosillo on December 6
MEXICO 00006033 003 OF 003
report on and/or coordinate and decisions reached back in
their HQs.
COMMENT
-------
10. The general tone of this initial Hermosillo meeting was
one of studied caution. One reason for this was probably the
number and variety of the participants at the meeting but it
also was probably a result of a realistic assessment of the
size of the problem under discussion. That said, the
meeting,s participants seemed to genuinely understand the
need for some sort of concerted action and sooner rather than
later. Hopefully the follow-up meeting in December will get
the drug abuse prevention initiative off to a sound start in
the Hermosillo consular district and further build on the
budding USG/union cooperation.
11. THIS MESSAGE WAS CLEARED WITH AMCONSUL HERMOSILLO.
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