SECRETARY OF DEFENSE TESTIFIES BEFORE CONGRESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MEXICO 002235

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/07/2017
TAGS: PINR PGOV PREL MX
SUBJECT: SECRETARY OF DEFENSE TESTIFIES BEFORE CONGRESS

Classified By: POLITICAL MINISTER COUNSELOR CHARLES V. BARCLAY, JR.,
FOR REASONS 1.4 (B/D)


1. (SBU) Summary: On April 27, Secretary Guillermo Galvan
spent nearly two hours fielding questions and offering
comments to 19 legislators in a public hearing called by the
Chamber of Deputies' Defense Committee to discuss the
military's growing role in counter narcotics operations.
Galvan's first public encounter with legislators was one the
few undertaken in recent years by a SEDENA chief, and was
characterized by a member of President Calderon's staff as a
useful "ice-breaker." End Summary.


2. (C) There were few surprises. Presidential National
Security advisor Sigrid Arzt told Poloff that questions were
submitted to SEDENA in advance and lawmakers were on their
best behavior. The hearing yielded few groundbreaking
insights. General Galvan listened politely as a multi-party
succession of deputies issued platitudes about the armed
forces and held forth on issues ranging from illegal logging
(from a Green Party legislator),the plight of retired
military personnel and SEDENA's treatment of HIV positive
soldiers.


3. (SBU) Nevertheless, the event gave lawmakers opportunity
to press Galvan on a number of fundamental issues. They
asked for Galvan's assessment of the impact current
Counternarcotic surge operations were having on the health of
his institution, whether they were achieving their desired
effect, what the military was doing to stem mounting
desertions from the ranks and whether he agreed with the push
within congress to overturn or amend Mexico's nearly 70 year
old neutrality law.


3. (SBU) Demonstrating a fair degree political skill for a
neophyte appearing for the first time before legislators,
Galvan was alternatively forward-leaning and less than
direct, as the circumstances warranted. He skirted a
question of whether the military's involvement in a major law
enforcement initiative might not undermine its ability to
carry out its core national security mission, simply averring
that its participation was well within the institution's
competency as outlined in Mexican law.


4. (U) In his formal presentation at the outset of the
hearing, he ticked off his institution's accomplishments over
the past five months:

--The cartels have lost close to $4.7 billion in revenue
since December 2006 as a result of drugs seizures by the
armed forces.

--Ongoing intelligence operations targeting the cartels were
undermining their leadership structure, even though they have
resulted in few arrests of "narco-capos." However, in five
months of surge operations 244 mid-level traffickers have
been detained.

--The military is successfully mapping out the business
enterprises of the cartels, including their major
transshipment routes through Mexico from the south, and will
be able to more precisely target traffickers in coming
months.

--The armed forces will continue to concentrate their efforts
in the "hot" trafficking zones of the Yucatan peninsula,
Sonora, Chihuahu, Baja California, as well as Nuevo Leon and
Tamuaulipas, which are currently being given high priority.


5. (U) Galvan agreed with a PRD interlocutor that desertions
from the armed forces were troubling, saying that since 2000
there have been more than 112, 000. Without providing
numbers, he recognized that "some" deserters had offered
their services to the cartels.

--------------
Time to Update Mexico's Neutrality Law?
--------------


6. (SBU) Finally, Galvan weighed in on the push to amend
Mexico's 1939 Neutrality law, which circumscribes foreign
deployments by the armed forces as well as the presence of
foreign troops on Mexican soil. Opposition legislators
bitterly reacted to an attempt last week to bring Mexican law

MEXICO 00002235 002 OF 002


into closer alignment with its current international
obligations and provide a basis for humanitarian deployments
overseas. The Chamber's Defense Committee narrowly passed an
initiative to amend the law only to see it stall on the
floor. In a bit of double talk interpreted by some media as
support for the status quo, Galvan said he believed the law
should be kept, and that Mexico should concentrate on its own
internal security, rather than focus on regional or
"continental" security. However, he noted, circumstances have
changed considerably since 1939, and that the law might be
modified according to present day circumstances.


7. (U) Galvan concluded the hearing by saying he recognized
his institution's responsibility to engage with congress,
saying that he will make it a priority to maintain open and
cordial relations with all elements of Mexican society.


8. (SBU) Comment: Although a bit stilted and less than
incisive, the hearing gave both SEDENA's chief and
legislators the opportunity to sharpen capabilities to engage
in the kind of civil-military give and take that other
democracies take for granted. Media coverage was moderate,
and relatively painless from the military's point of view,
with most papers highlighting Galvan's list of
accomplishments. The experience hopefully helped limber the
senior leadership of Mexico's armed forces and make it more
amenable to engaging with their civilian counterparts across
the board. 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 /
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