VZCZCXRO3764
RR RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHME #3162 2981846
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 241846Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
INFO RUEAHLA/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
RHMFISS/CDR USNORTHCOM
RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
C O N F I D E N T I A L MEXICO 003162
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/24/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM SNAR KCRM MX
SUBJECT: CALDERON ANNOUNCES NEW SECURITY ADVISOR
Classified By: Classified by Charles V. Barclay, Political Counselor fo
r reasons 1.4 (b) (d)
1.(SBU) Even before the October 20 announcement that
President Calderon had appointed Jorge E. Tello Peon as a new
national security advisor in charge of improving coordination
between federal law enforcement elements the new appointee
had already met with various institutions to develop a
strategic plan to address Mexico's organized crime problems.
According to embassy law enforcement contacts, the main
objectives of the plan aim to:
--increase coordination and information-sharing among GOM LE
entities; Tello has ordered each agency to name a
representative to work on a strategic plan with him.
-- reinvigorate existing plans to address Mexico's southern
border with Guatemala, including beefing up SEDENA check
points on main roads leading up the Isthmus of Tehuantepec
and boosting active marine patrols along the Gulf and Pacific
coasts.
--further enhance the working relationship with banking
institutions in Mexico to address the money flow generated
and facilitated by organized crime groups.
--increase cooperation with USG LE agencies on reducing
illegal arms flows into Mexico.
2. (C) According to Mexican security analyst Jorge Chabat,
Tello is well-respected in Mexico's LE community and was
Calderon's initial pick for SSP Secretary. Chabat said Tello
turned the position down because he had cancer at the time
and preferred to be in Monterrey with his family (working as
head of CEMEX's security). Chabat is uncertain how Tello's
new role will differ from Sigrid Artz's position, currently
Technical Secretary of the National Security Council, and he
anticipates overlaps. He also expects that, at least
initially, the new position will cause some "noise" or
inter-group power conflicts within the GOM rather than
resolve them. Separately, a high-level CISEN official told
LE emboff that Sigrid Artz would still have overall
coordinating role of the Security Council.
3. (SBU) Tello has served as Director of the Center of
Investigation and National Security (CISEN), Commissioner for
the National Institute to Combat Drugs for the Attorney
General's Office (PGR) and Undersecretary of Government
(SEGOB). Tello was an SSP Undersecretary under Zedillo's
Administration, in charge of all Mexican federal prisons, and
remained in place into the early Fox administration.
President Fox removed and replaced him after the embarrassing
escape of Chapo Guzman from Puente Grande Prison.
4. (C) Several reports indicate that Tello is an old Genaro
Garcia Luna associate and one of the architects of the
Federal Preventive Police (PFP) as that agency was
developing. (Note: At that time it was widely believed that
eventually the PFP would become the enforcement/investigative
arm of the PGR. End note.) DEA reports that they have no
derogatory information on Tello.
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